


Daily Life With Monster Girls

by otblock57



Category: Terraria
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Guide Permadeath, Harem Trash, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:35:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 78,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29015211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otblock57/pseuds/otblock57
Summary: Our hero Cyrus defeats the bosses, only for them to turn into... roughly human girls. Here's hoping he gets out of this one in one piece. Just as self indulgent and trashy as you'd expect from the title and premise.
Relationships: Player (Terraria)/Humanized Bosses
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	1. Somebody Watching Me

**Author's Note:**

> So, I started this fic back in October 2020, so that means I've developed the plot pretty far along, and I'll be keeping the author's notes mostly intact, so they're kind of a window into my thoughts at the time, including me begging for feedback and asking for thoughts on how the plot could go.
> 
> As for content warnings, the major issue here is going to be violence- some of the later fights might get nasty if you're squeamish, especially Plantera. Otherwise, I play into the whole harem anime trope of being mostly sexless, just because I'm not comfortable with writing smut. Peak lewdness is the beach episode, honestly. Other than that... well you saw the tags, and the foreshadowing about the Guide's fate is pretty obvious, at least I think so.

Cyrus felt a chill go down the back of his neck, and couldn't shake off the strangest impression that he was being watched by… someone, something, monstrous. He was far from his home base, on the Guide's urging, in a great flat stretch of grass he had cleared out during the day. Campfires crackled in the twilight, their warm orange glow intermingling with the soft yellows of stars in bottles or the comforting pink of heart lanterns swaying in the wind. He had felled many trees to clear out this little arena, and he began to think back to when he first arrived in that primeval forest…

* * *

Cyrus couldn't remember much more than his name. He felt a pounding in his head, a wind in his hair, and a set of wooden handles hooked to his belt. His eyes fluttered open, and he stumbled to his feet in the middle of the vibrant forest, and soon noticed a man standing nearby.

The main seemed quite plain, Cyrus thought. Thick brown hair, brown eyes, simple shirt and jeans, but a surprisingly comforting expression. "Hey, hello!" he shouted, beckoning Cyrus over.

"Who are you?" Cyrus asked, but in spite of the fact that he woke up in the middle of nowhere with only this stranger for company, some deep feeling in his gut told him he was to be trusted.

"I'm Garret," the man gave a broad grin, "and we might need to hurry up. It's already noon!"

What followed was a rapid half-day of frenzied construction, and despite the ease with which his tool shaped the world around him, Cyrus had the strangest impression that no building should have been finished that fast, especially one like this.

The house was partially submerged in the earth, the result of his unnatural earth moving abilities, simply constructed of planks with a door on one end (although Garret absolutely insisted on no windows if they weren't made of glass, and while Cyrus couldn't comprehend why he decided to trust the man). Cyrus tried to sleep, but the hard wooden floor and the disturbing noises from outside made it the first of many restless nights.

* * *

Over time, the house had expanded from a low lying wooden shed to several much grander houses, almost manor like, and with time they were filled with all the tools Cyrus needed to survive in this world as well as many new guests, like a charismatic merchant named Harold, a stout little man named Gimli (whose house was a significant distance away from the rest, for everyone's benefit), and a nurse named Abigail. They all contributed something, whether a seemingly endless supply of useful sundries, enough explosives to, in Gimli's own words, "blow ya' to hell!" (Garret seemed to cringe when Gimli said that), and all the pertinent medical knowledge the rag tag group could need. The warm atmosphere of the community was disturbed by a horrible sinking feeling earlier this evening, and Garret warned him something terrible was coming… something monstrous.

Cyrus usually felt confident exploring the world, with his golden armor and bow, but he felt a knot of dread deep in his stomach. The gently swaying trees which so lifted his spirits during the day now only served to block his vision and gave him the terrifying feeling of being hemmed in with something terrible, like a fish in barrel, just waiting for the gun to fire.

With shivering hands, he pulled a series of potions from his belt, and began to drink them one after the other, until he saw it, dropping the potion of swiftness he was swallowing. It was an eye, but one that beggared belief, almost making his knees buckle with scale. Nothing should be that big, nothing should have an eye twice the size of a man grown, but there it was, hovering before him, pale and unblinking, bright red veins contrasting against the rich blue of the iris, the inky black of the pupil seeming to pull him in with a sort of terrible gravity. For a few moments they stood perfectly still, as if engaged in some sort of staring contest, before the Eye began to drift towards him, and Cyrus began to run.

He pulled out his bow, drew, and fired, and the arrow sunk into the eye, although it seemed to not really care as it rose above him, and to Cyrus' horror, multiple Demon Eyes slid out from the inky blackness of the pupil and began to fly towards him. He dove to the side, pelting the eye with arrows as it seemed to rear back before charging him, with an unearthly roar.

Cyrus felt the rush of air as the eye swept behind him, mere inches away from clipping him, and he knew with a dark certainty that if the eye struck him with a full on blow, he wouldn't leave the field alive.

After a few minutes, he grew almost comfortable with the strange rhythm of the Eye's attacks, rushing to dodge its charges and getting off as many shots as he could while fending off the swarms of eyes the thing summoned. A smile crossed his face as the Eye began to spin backwards after a well placed shot, and Cyrus hoped that it would retreat before he heard a horrifying ripping sound, and the iris flew off the beast's face, revealing rows of yellowed fangs, each nearly half his height. Its roar was even louder this time, and when he dove to get out of the beast's way, its side glanced his leg and sent him spiraling.

He stumbled to his feet, staggering as the dizziness wore off, just in time to dodge the Eye, if it could even be called as such anymore, and sent an arrow into the thing's gullet. It tore long furrows into the ground, tearing up grass and sending logs and embers from the campfires flying wildly into the air, letting out continuous shrieks as Cyrus danced across the field, leaping and weaving as the Eye tore through the grass.

Cyrus was under the impression that his arrows were more effective on the beast in this enraged state, but more and more of his dwindling arrow supply were flying wide as the Eye became a streak tearing across his field of vision.

He was stumbling now, exhaustion pulling him downwards as the Eye seemed to fly higher and higher in the dark sky, and as he reached for another arrow he realized that he only had this one left in his quiver, and if he didn't finish this now he would be faced with the unenviable job of fighting the living equivalent of a wrecking ball with a sword. The golden surface of his bow gleamed in the moonlight as he pulled the string with all his strength, until he felt that even a bow as strong as this was moments away from snapping, snapping until he released and the arrow soared into the sky, striking true in the pale white of the Eye, and it let one last bellow out before disintegrating in the air, into plumes of a vile purple smoke.

Then he realized that something, no, someone, must have been inside the eye, or at least they fell from the exact spot the eye was slain, their clothes billowing around them in the cold night air. Cyrus broke into a sprint, and just barely caught the person, now revealed to be a woman, before she hit the ground.

Cyrus couldn't help but gawk, just a little. The girl was beautiful, with short hair as black as the night sky, her face serene in sleep, her chest gently rising and falling under her long white dress which was covered in red, vein like patterns at the bottom of the dress. The strangest thing about her was the broad shield strapped to her back, rimmed in red with a white body, a something like a mouth carved into it's surface. The shield was far too big for the girl, and Cyrus couldn't help but wonder how such a woman and her shield ended up in the company (or inside?) that dreadful eye. Figuring that Garret might know more about the situation, Cyrus shrugged, adjusted his grip, and walked home.

* * *

Garret was wringing his hands, waiting outside the new house Cyrus had finished, worried that his friend might not have made it, might have not triumphed against the first of the many evils the world would throw at him. When he saw a faint silhouette in the distance, on the simple cleared path to the battlefield Cyrus had prepared, he sagged with relief, practically melting into his chair as Cyrus approached, and Garret suddenly realized that Cyrus wasn't carrying a heaping helping of loot from the monster, but instead he had a thin young woman in a princess carry.

Cyrus seemed just as confused as Garret was, his brow furrowed as he glanced down at this woman who simply should not have been. Garret had a rough idea of how this whole thing was supposed to go, a seemingly endless cavalcade of challenges, but in no way did he expect this random girl to just… fall from the sky.

"Uhhh…. Garret? You have any sage advice for me?"

Garret felt some deep aching pain in his soul and replied "We'll figure it out in the morning. Please, let's just figure it out in the morning."

* * *

Abigail took custody of the new mystery girl just about as soon as she saw her next morning, but before things could even begin to calm down there was a knocking on the door, and Cyrus opened it… only to nearly choke on air when he saw a very beautiful, very scantily clad woman standing at the door.

She gave a beatific smile and extended a hand to Cyrus, saying "Hello! I'm Nissa the dryad, and I've heard you defeated a beast of incredible power, and I humbly request your aid to help defend mother nature."

Being too busy with the mother of all coughing fits, Cyrus couldn't answer, and Garret walked up to the door. "Of course, come in! You're welcome to join our little settlement. Plus, I've got a few questions for you about… something that has come up…"

The dryad pushed her long, grass-green braid behind her shoulder and walked inside, into the house that was the town's unofficial center, mostly because Cyrus and Garret lived there.

Garrett grimaced and gestured towards the unconscious girl "Do you have any idea who this might be?" he asked with the same sort of desperation that one might find in a man reaching for a life preserver.

Nissa frowned. "No, I can't say that I do" she stroked her chin and leaned closer, looking at the girl, and at that exact moment her eyes snapped open.

"Who… who are you?" she murmured, licking her cracked lips. "Well whoever you are, could you get me a glass of water? I've got the worst case of dry-eye. Well…. I guess I'm not an eye anymore?" she laughed a little as Abigail rushed outside.

"Wait. You were that… Eye thing?" Cyrus had never seen someone with such beautiful eyes, like the sapphires he would sometimes find when digging deep, with all the luster of the gemstones as well.

The girl smirked "Why yes, I was. But now I'm not. My name is Cthylla, and I'd be very grateful if I could stay here for a while."


	2. A Study in Crimson

Cyrus was out exploring, following Garret's advice about finding new biomes and resources in order to increase his chances of survival, especially given the close shaves against the Eye (or Cthylla?) previously. After realizing the true extent of the girl's state, Abigail had established something of an embargo in the main house, with nothing coming in or out except what few medical supplies she sent Garret to fetch. Maybe it was better to be out here than running errands, Cyrus thought.

Then the wind turned, and suddenly Cyrus was nearly sent to his knees by an overwhelming smell of decay and rot, sickly sweet and cloying. He crested the hill he was climbing, and decided errands would be much better than this.

A vast landscape of red stretched out before him, rolling hills covered in pinkish, flesh-like grass, blood red rivers and streams trickling down them like veins. The frequent hills and crests dividing the land were a deep, dark crimson, but when Cyrus saw them nothing could come to his mind but the bones of a creature too massive to truly comprehend, a creature so big that its ribs formed the crests of mountains and its skull a cave vast enough to build a house in. Even as far away as he was now, Cyrus could see the parasites that lived and thrived in this land, the man-sized spiders and strange flying leech-like creatures.

Cyrus decided to find a cave to hide in.

* * *

After securely sealing a cave entrance behind him, Cyrus prepared to descend into the depths. He had a sinking feeling of being swallowed, of being subsumed by something so much larger than him that it denied understanding. The small antechamber he found himself in reminded him of a mouth, opening up into a dark gullet. Slowly, he rappelled down.

Soon, he found himself hanging from the ceiling of a tremendous chamber, the rope gentle swaying in the still, stagnant air. This massive room wasn't even the bottom, he realized. Five other caves branched off from this room, and after Cyrus reached the floor of the chamber he choose one at random and began to climb in, fingering the magic mirror he kept in his pocket, in case things went horribly wrong in this land of blood and gore.

Eventually, he reached a dead end, but he couldn't help but get a feeling he was incredibly close to something important… He pulled out his pickaxe and gave it an experimental swing into the mottled red rock of the cave, only for it to bounce off with a disappointing _clink_.

"Blast it! How am I supposed to get through this? Wait… blast? Oh thank you, thank you Gimli!" Cyrus had, at best, tolerated Gimli's explosive experiments, but now he felt an incredible sense of gratitude. He clambered up to the mouth of cave, lit the fuse of one of the bombs he bought, threw it down the cave, and ducked to the side. The explosion echoed for a few moments, but when Cyrus looked down into the cave he saw a red heart hovering in the air, throbbing to it's own bizarre tempo and glowing with a faint reddish light. Unhooking his hammer from his belt, Cyrus pulled back and swung, crushing the throbbing heart under his hammer.

A burst of foul smelling reddish smoke filled the cave, and when it cleared Cyrus found a pistol sitting on the ground, as well as ammunition. Cyrus figured this would prove to be a very profitable venture. He didn't even notice the faint rumbling of the earth underneath his feet.

* * *

Cyrus was on his third heart now, and was growing excited. After the pistol, the next heart gave him a long black spear mottled with red, and he carried it over his shoulder as his third bomb exploded. However, when he crushed the heart with his hammer this time, he was sent to his knees by earth's rumbling, and the strange groaning sounds that echoed in the caves as the flesh shifted and swayed under the stress. Peaking from the mouth of the smaller cave and looking into the broader cave, he realized that he made a major mistake.

Hanging in the air was a vast Brain, orbited by a ring of yellow-irised, unblinking eyes. When he squinted, he could see that the brain was translucent, and Cyrus could see the patterns of the wall behind the Brain faintly.

The eyes rushed towards him, and Cyrus began to jab wildly with his brand new spear, Managing to sink the head of the spear into a pair of the eyes and then flinging them to side. The problem was the swarm of them, coming from every angle just slightly slower than he could fend them off with the spear. All the while the faint apparition of the Brain floated, complacent and uncaring as Cyrus delivered plentiful ocular trauma to its minions.

Soon enough he had fended off the horde, his spear dripping with a foul liquid that Cyrus decided he really did not want to know the true identity of. Then the Brain slammed into him with all the force and speed of a boulder, and the Brain glared at him from a truly horrific eye that stared down at him from a throbbing heart in the center of the Brain.

Swiftly recovering and clambering up the rocks, he shifted into a defensive stance and used the great length of the spear to force the Brain back every time it got too close for comfort, but this was complicated greatly when visions of the brain began to appear in the air around the real thing, confusing the already addled and exhausted Cyrus. With one tremendous thrust he pushed the Brain back, pulled his new pistol from his belt, and fired it directly into the terrible, beating heart.

Just like the eye, the great body of the brain evaporated into a foul pink mist, and when it cleared Cyrus realized that his problems were going to get a lot worse when he saw the body of another girl lying on the crimson crags.

The first thing he noticed was her hair, which was a vibrant shade of pink, but less of a fleshy pink and more of a… cotton candy color? (Cyrus had a sinking feeling that he should know, that he once knew, what cotton candy was, but didn't know anymore. Maybe Garret would know? He was a crafty sort) It was in a complex braid, and tumbled down to the bottom of her back, but it almost looked short compared to the long lab coat the young woman wore, which hid a pale pink sweater and dark pants. A strange, heart shaped necklace with a brain-like pattern hung around her neck, and a pair of glasses covered her eyes, which were closed in a deep sleep.

Carefully lifting her from the rough rocks, Cyrus pulled out his magic mirror and prepared for his life to get a lot more complicated as the mirror warped space to bring him, and his new guest, back home.

* * *

Garret and Abigail heard the sound of the magic mirror warping Cyrus home and rushed outside, having long since learned that sound could mean trouble if Cyrus ran into something dangerous while exploring.

Garret started groaning once he saw the new lady in Cyrus' arms while Abigail just sighed and gestured for him to carry the girl in.

"Well guess what, sweetheart? There's someone else like you out there Cthylla." Abigail said, and Cthylla's face broke into a massive smile.

"Really? Another, so soon? Maybe you should calm down a little, Cyrus. You'll gather a whole harem by the end of the week!" She giggled.

Cyrus flushed "Well…. How are you, I guess? I'm sorry that I didn't get to stick around to make sure you're alright."

"Maybe I can forgive you if you can show me around your town? Not like there's much else to do."

* * *

"I am truly grateful, though." Cthylla gave Cyrus a bright smile, showing unusually sharp teeth as she wrapped herself around his arm.

"For what… shooting you?"

She sighed and gave him a light slap on the arm "For snapping me out of that monstrous form, of course. Life is a lot better on this scale, I think. In fact, that shield I had when you first defeated old me? You can have it. You'll make better use of it than I could. Abigail says I'm too frail to really fight, probably because I've been in human form for all of a day."

"How's the new body treating you?"

"Very well! The food's good and everyone's so nice… actually, I think Nissa wanted to talk to you. Come on!" she said, dragging him towards the particular neck of the woods where the dryad spent her day.

* * *

Cthylla was glaring at him, and Cyrus was trying very hard not to stare. Nissa was, to put it simply, a very beautiful woman, her long legs and tan skin barely covered by a worryingly small amount of leaves. Cyrus wondered if calling her willowy would get him punched. Would it be good to compare her to a tree?

"So, you saw the Crimson. It is one of the two great evils plaguing this world, slowly consuming all that is wholesome and good with their foul auras."

Cyrus froze. "It… it spreads?"

"It can and will grow across the surface of the world. It will be hard to fight it, but keep it far away from this town, at least. Without action, evil will consume the world."

"So… what can we do?"

"Although it may be good for you to rest for a bit, in time you must find the other source of evil in the world, the Corruption, and you will find another powerful beast who rules over that land…. You might even get another random girl out of it, considering the pattern so far"

Cthylla's glare intensified. Cyrus sighed.

* * *

"You were gawking at her."

I was not 'gawk..'" Cyrus stopped talking when he noticed Abigail waving them over, and when the two got close enough they heard her shouting.

"She's waking up!"

Cthylla's brow furrowed. "Already? It took me half a day to wake up…" She pouted, and Cyrus was torn between finding her cute and completely comical.

When they got inside, they saw the mysterious new girl sit up, yawning, before she asked "Where… where am I?"

"Well, this little town doesn't have a name yet, but you're among friends" Abigail smiled reassuringly and Cyrus wondered how a woman who was usually so crass had such a wonderful bedside manner. Or maybe she just didn't like him. That was understandable.

The girl pushed her glasses up her nose with a sort of practiced ease that was surprising, given her previous form of a giant, enraged brain. "My name is Medulla. I don't know much about this knew form of mine, so I'll be in your care."

* * *

Dinner was always an unusual affair. It was decided that the other town members would share the task of preparing meals, considering how Cyrus was too busy wandering around the world or building to focus on something like cooking, and tonight the group had decided to try one of the many unusual products Harold the merchant seemed to have an endless supply of, an unusual fish dish called sushi that was traditionally eaten with two sticks.

"I refuse to believe this is a real way people eat food. It seems woefully inefficient if the goal is simply to get food into the stomach." Medulla said, glaring at the stubborn piece of sushi which had bravely denied all attempts on Medulla's part to to secure it.

"It's not too bad once you get the hang of it, I think" Cyrus said, and the rest of the group with the notable exception of Medulla were having no issues.

Medulla glanced over at Cthylla, smirked, and said "Well… I don't know. Abigail said I was in such a poor state, after all… maybe you could feed me?"

Cthylla nearly choked on her food, and gave Medulla her patented Eye of Cthulhu death glare. Of course, results were slightly diminished when working with two human sized eyes as opposed to one eye the size of a small tree, but she was working on it, damn it.

"Well, I suppose so…" With all the grace of a skilled warrior, he used the chopsticks to feed Medulla her sushi, as the Eye's eyes watered.

Cythlla grabbed onto one of Cyrus' arms. "Hey! Are you ignoring me? I'm so weak I wouldn't survive out there! I need every ounce of nutrition I can get!"

"But weren't you just eating the sushi without help?"

"Well…. All this arm movement is exhausting. I didn't have arms before, ya' know?" She said, while waving her arms around excitedly.

Across the table, Abigail, Garret, and Gimli tried their hardest to hold back their laughter. Harold sighed and said, "Ahh, reminds me of when I was a young lad…"

* * *

"I'd like to give you something." Medulla had pulled Cyrus to the side after dinner. She removed the necklace from her neck and placed it in his palm. "I'd like you to have this, at least for now. I now you'll make a good use of it."

"Well thank you."

Medulla smiled. "Don't mention it. Now, before Cthylla tracks us down…" she stood on tip-toes, and gave Cyrus a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck out there in the corruption tomorrow!" and then she ran off, her face turning a deep shape of crimson that warmed Cyrus' heart instead of sending chills down his spine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two girls is the minimum for harem hijinks, and the threshold has been reached. For now, I'm still not sure about a few things. I'm thinking of maybe including the dryad in the harem, but I'm not sure about other NPCs. Do I cockblock my boy the arm dealer? Anyways, corruption next episode, King Slime after that probably, or maybe Queen Bee? As for today's name explanation, the Medulla is a part of the brain close to the spine which deals with involuntary functions. So just like an anime waifu, the real Medulla can make your heart go doki doki. Don't expect updates this frequently, but I do hope to crank more of these out.


	3. The Purple People Eater

Life was calm for a few days after Medulla's arrival. Cyrus' original plan to storm on down to the corruption was stopped when he realized that the town was running dangerously low on room; once again, he set upon expanding the village to make room for their new guests, and Cyrus had a feeling that Medulla and Cthylla would be the first of many visitors. What started as a low-lying hut hidden in a forest was now a series of tall structures, composed of stone brick and lumber. In addition, he had finally gotten glass for windows, meaning the citizens of the town could look outside during night without being bowled over by an sentient eyeball.

The world Cyrus found himself in proved diverse beyond imagining, with snowy hills and rolling desert within a day's travel of his home base. Of course, that awful Crimson was nearby as well, close enough to send shivers down his spine whenever he imagined it, and he knew for certain that there was another place of similar evil out there somewhere, waiting for him.

The moon was full and bright, but all Cyrus could feel was a churning deep in his stomach about what his expedition to the Corruption might hold.

* * *

Several days of searching had gone on with nothing to show for it except some truly monstrous bug bites from the sweltering jungle. Today seemed like just as much of a bust as the rest of his trips when he saw something in the distance, a thoroughly unnatural shade of deep purple. When he got closer, he couldn't shake off the strangest feeling of… wrongness. It disturbed him just as much as the visceral hills of the Crimson did, but the Corruption felt different, like a sullying of the world, of its natural order. Even from a distance, he could see how the plants grew strange and twisted, how the thorns choked the ground, the strange creatures that floated above the purple plains, their thick mandibles looking too large for their bodies. Some voice deep in this mind begged for him to turn back from this aberration in the land, this warping of the natural order.

However, Cyrus carried on, using his spear to cut away at the thick brambles which covered the land like a carpet and to fend off the flying creatures which haunted this blasted heath. And then he came to a great chasm which tore through the land as if the earth itself had been torn asunder. He looked down into the gap, and felt a horrible calling, as if some deep part of him just wished to leap in and fall…

He did leap in, once securing a rope to the chasm's edge, and as he descended into the fetid chasm he nearly choked on the stench, his grip loosening on the rough purple rock which seemed to be swallowing him whole. He reached the bottom of the chasm, landing boot deep in shallow, purple water.

Lifting a torch to peer into the inky black of the chasm, Cyrus couldn't help but wonder if there was anything like the throbbing hearts of the Crimson buried here in this strange, eldritch rock, and what sort of strange monster mad this cursed land its home?

The glowing purple orbs buried in the corruption were no less horrifying than the throbbing hearts of the crimson, but they also shared the same weakness to being crushed by hammers. Now that he expected it, he could feel the faint rumbling under his feet every time he crushed one, and before crushing the third orb he drank his potions, pulled back his hammer, and swung.

He heard a ear-splitting roar that echoed in the cramped chasm, and turned to see a tremendous worm barreling towards him, its mouth gleaming with row upon row of fangs behind four thick mandibles. Panicked, Cyrus ran towards his rope and began to climb, pulling himself up the rope with all his strength as the raced towards him before it turned skywards to catch him from below.

Cyrus swung with all his weight to the side, as the great Worm missed him by mere inches, and then Cyrus had a revelation, jamming his pickaxe into the tough, reeking flesh of the worm as it soared skywards, and he leapt from the beast's side as it emerged from the canyon.

Rolling on the rough ground, Cyrus got to his feet and gaped as the worm continued to rise, easily sixty meters long, the putrid flesh dotted with rolling eyes that cried a vile acid. The Worm reached its apex before turning towards him and diving. Dodging to the side, Cyrus pulled his spear and sunk it into the beast's flank, and the beast's incredible speed tore a massive gash into its side, splattering the ground with a strange green acid that bubbled and popped on the ground.

The beast shrieked, the sound shaking the ground and Cyrus turned just in time to see the beast rising from the ground like a shark from the water, teeth gnashing and mandibles chattering. Waiting until the last moment, Cyrus sprung to the side, planting his spear in the ground and letting the Worm tear itself to ribbons on his spear. The beast looped and spiraled in the air, dripping its corrosive blood as Cyrus dodged while trying to keep on eye on the Worm's head.

It dove towards him, and once more the spear struck true, but this time one of the segments shook itself loose and began to fly independently, so now two half length worms soared through the air, criss crossing in air like they were threads forming knots. Cyrus realized immediately that he wouldn't be able to handle any more independent worms and began to aim his attacks at the head.

Segment by segment, Cyrus chipped away at the worm's tremendous length, until only one section remained and charged him, and he planted his spear in the ground and let the beast charge itself to death. Once again, the air was filled with a foul smoke, this time a deep shade of purple, and when it cleared he could see a very unusual girl.

Her hair was dark brown, very wavy, and fell all the way to her hips, and her hips were really the place where things got interesting. From her hips down she didn't have legs, but instead a long, worm-like body that reminded him of the boss he just defeated. Half woman and half…. Worm thing? At this point, the world really didn't surprise him anymore. He managed to scoop up her upper body (he was strong, but not strong enough to lift several meters of worm) and pulled the mirror from his pocket.

At least Garret was willing to help carry her inside.

"Why am I even surprised anymore?" Abigail sighed, "If you keep on pulling stuff like this Cyrus, I'll need you to build me a hospital. Put her in that bed over there, and behave yourself for the rest of the day."

* * *

Cyrus' teeth rattled with the force of the explosion, and the rope he was hanging on swung wildly in the massive shaft he had "excavated" with help from Gimli. Carefully lighting another stick of dynamite, he dropped it waited, expecting more boring stone, or if he was really lucky, a cave. Instead, the floor gave way under the explosive, crumbling into a truly massive space, lit with deep reds and oranges. Cautiously, lowered himself down, to find himself hanging above Hell, with only his rope keeping him from falling.

The infernal landscape had a sort of terrible beauty, great mountains and cliffs composed of a dark sort of ash, broken up by smooth pools of lava or great rushing falls of lava which flowed around towering structures of black and red bricks. Demons and fiery bats flew through the choking, sulfurous air. Cyrus turned to see a demon flying towards him, long fangs bared, carrying something small in its back claw, and it tackled into him, all sharp claws and fangs, knocking him from his rope and the two grappled in air.

The beast's claws tore through his army like it was paper, but Cyrus held on for dear life while pulling his pistol from his belt as the two plummeted in the air. His eyes were watering in the stinging air, but the demon was so close it was impossible to miss, and after emptying his revolver's entire cylinder into the beast before it disintegrated into a smoke. Cyrus snatched whatever the creature was carrying, something small and soft, but he was too focused on tearing his mirror from his pocket as plummeted n towards the lava, which wasn't looking quite as pretty when it was racing towards your face.

* * *

"Ugh!" Cyrus crashed into the ground with force before he stumbled to his feet, dusting hellish ash and mundane dirt off of his dulled and bloodstained armor. Then he got tackled by a supernatural entity for the second time in five minutes.

"Are you alright?" Cthylla had a vice-like grip on his arm, and she scanned his body for injuries before dragging him in the direction of Abigail.

"It's fine. I need to talk with Garrett, I found something down there." he said, lifting his hand to show a small, slightly charred doll, and now that he was seeing it in daylight, the similarities to Garrett were obvious, from the matching clothes to the brown hair.

"You were torn to ribbons… for a doll?" Cthylla glared at him and pulled with more force, and Cyrus conceded.

* * *

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Abigail had disinfected his wounds and sutured them, but when Cyrus tried to sit up she pushed him down. "Don't you dare. I sewed your wounds shut, you are not going to go out there and tear them open."

"Well, could you get Garret, then?"

"I suppose. Cthylla, if he tries to stand up, stop him."

"Really? Come on!"

"Doctor's orders."

* * *

Garrett walked into the town's defacto nursery to see Cyrus in bed while Cthylla and Medulla orbited around his bed. "What did you need me for, Cyrus?"

"While I was exploring, I found something, and I figure you'd be the expert about it." he said, lifting a small doll that bore a remarkable similarity to Garrett, plain clothes and all.

Garret's eyes widened, and he took the doll in his hands. "This… this is something that will help us later, I think. We'll need it in the future, and it's good we got one now. I'll…. I'll tuck it away until we need it." Garrett had a strange, melancholic expression on his face as he looked down at the doll before he left the room.

"What was that? He didn't even really tell us what it did!" Cyrus' brows furrowed. "It feels like there's so much I don't understand here!"

"You should calm down, you know. We're always learning new things" Medulla murmured, pushing her glasses up her nose and giving a reassuring smile. "You're doing so much exploration, of course you'll run into things you haven't seen before." She took his hand. "And we'll be here to help you, after all."

Cthylla sat on his other side and took hold of his other arm. "Yeah! I'm sure we'll figure it out!" she shouted, her infectious smile spreading to Cyrus.

"Ugggh…. Who's that? Where am I?" The ex-Eater of Worlds sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes (both the ones in her head and the ones dotting the worm section of body, which was definitely a little strange) and yawning.

Cyrus tried to get up, but Cthylla pushed him back into the bed. "You're staying there, Cyrus. Anyways, you're in our little village. Cyrus' little village?" Her head tilted to the side. "I'm Cthylla, the lady with the pink hair is Medulla, and Cyrus is the fool in the hospital bed."

"My name is Annelida." She gave a warm smile that reached her green eyes. All two dozen of them. It was a little unnerving, having all those eyes staring at him, but Cyrus couldn't help but think that she had a unique beauty all her own. She toyed with a purple-gray scarf wrapped around her neck, twirling it gently.

With a bit of effort, she lowered her tail off the bed and slid off the bed with all the fluid grace of a snake. For some reason, the word lamia came to Cyrus' mind, although he had never heard of or even seen such a creature before.

Cyrus wasn't sure if slither was the right word for a worm, but that's what she seemed to do, until she was standing right next to him and his bed. "Well, I'm glad to have met you and your friends, Cyrus."

"You need a new suit of armor. The old one's too far gone." Cthylla said, idly swinging her legs as she leaned over to look at Cyrus.

"I could just forge a new set with the same old materials…"

All three girls in the room glared at Cyrus, and he decided to shut up. "Well… maybe we could scrape something new together? Say, do you have any crimtane or demonite?"

"Yeah, we have some… But I've never had any luck shaping them into armor or picks. Like something's missing…"

Annelida looked up. "I might have something that could help with that." She reached down to her tail, grabbed on, and gave a tug. She lifted up a small, grey-purple scale that almost seemed to suck in the warm torchlight and whatever daylight snuck into the room. "I've just got a feeling!"

* * *

After a few hours, as the sun began to set, Annelida and Medulla returned, with food, and with pieces of dark purple armor. "Ta-da! One brand new set of Shadow Armor!" exclaimed, puffing her chest out in pride.

"Really, you're calling it Shadow Armor?" Cthylla rolled her eyes and giggled.

"I think it's a great name." Cyrus said, smiling at the pair.

Medulla flushed. "… Thank you. But you still need bed rest, and I won't fall for your flattery!"

Annelida sidled up to him. "Now just sit back and rest. The merchant has told me about this thing that you humans do for their sick companions!" She pulled out a small knife and an apple, but seemed to struggle with cutting it, and she huffed in disappointment as she cut off thick chunks of apple which fell to the floor.

Cyrus woke up late at night, squinting to see in the gentle and moonlight, and startled a little until he realized the person standing at his bedside was just Annelida, who gave him a smile. "I wanted to thank you. For knocking me out of that crazed state I was in."

"It was nothing. I was just trying to help."

She leaned towards him "Oh, so modest! But I would like to give you two things, as tokens of my gratitude." She carefully unwound the scarf around her neck and then held it out to Cyrus. "It's made of incredibly tough stuff. Attacks will just bounce off of it, and all things considered, I think you'll need it, considering how you got into such a nasty fight earlier today."

"And that's… one?" Cyrus said, quirking his brow.

She wrapped him in a crushing hug, and he could feel the surprisingly smooth coils of her tail wrapping around his body. "And this is the other" she whispered, and all of a sudden Cyrus felt so very sleepy….

He woke up to a surprisingly shrill voice. "What are you doing here, Annelida?!"

* * *

It took Cyrus a few days of bed rest to get back to full health, but soon enough the girls were accompanying him on walks outdoors to bring him back to his full strength. Soon enough the four of them, plus the dryad Nissa, were relaxing outside for something of a picnic.

"So…. What other strong monsters are out there? Like us?" Cthylla's eyes sparkled with curiosity as she turned to look at Nissa.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure, but I have some sort of sense about powerful creatures like you three. It's how I realized that Cyrus had defeated you in the first place. I've got a strange gut feeling about the jungle… I can sense that something powerful waits there, deep underground."

Medulla leaned forward, "Have you ever sensed anything else?"

Nissa paused to think. "Sometimes during night I feel a strange presence to the east, and I had the oddest feeling when Cyrus was taking his trip underground. Like something terrible was about to happen."

"Any more sage advice for us, Mrs. Guru?" Annelida seemed to be sunning herself, stretching out the length of her tail in the grass.

"I've got a feeling…" Nissa leaned forward, gesturing with her hands "that it's going to rain."

"Really? That's it?" Annelida's rolled her eyes, creating a confusing whirling pattern down the length of her tail. And then she froze for a moment before sighing in disappointment "and the rain's already started. Wonderful."

Cyrus held out his hand, and caught a drop of the rain in his palm. The sticky, purple colored rain. "I don't think this is a normal rainstorm…."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand cut. King Slime is up next folks (and she will be a chick, don't worry). So for today's name trivia, Annelida is the name of a taxonomic phylum, the one that worms, leeches, and the like fall into. Hopefully I've written her to be a bit more charming than the average member of her phylum. I tried to imply a sort of vaguely Lovecraftian horror for the Corruption, did it work? This is the longest chapter yet, and I'd love to get more criticism about my writing. I did originally start writing Fanfiction to improve my writing skills, after all.


	4. A Terrible Day for Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annelida is the most explicitly monstrous of the girls so far, so I'd like to know what everyone thinks about her.

Cyrus did not consider himself an expert on many things, meteorology included; however, even as a layperson he could recognize that slime falling form the sky in rapidly growing torrent was unusual. Then he noticed that the slime now covering the ground didn't stay still, but started to flow together, forming into the same type of slime you could find in the forest normally, but now they were as plentiful as the rain falling from the sky.

"Maybe you should get inside? I might need to fight these slimes off to keep them off the houses."

Cyrus said, drawing his spear and skewering one of the gelatinous creatures.

"I mean…. How bad could a few slimes be? Couldn't we just cozy up inside and wait for the weather to clear and let the little buggers bounce away to wherever slimes go?" Annelida asked, simultaneously trying to hide from the slimy rain while also remaining as indolent as possible.

"That would be a problem," Cyrus said, pulling a torch from his bag and lighting it. "Watch this." He threw at a nearby slime and the rest of the group jumped back as the unfortunate creature went up like a tinderbox, burning bright and hot for a few seconds before the flame petered out until all that remained was a circle of charred grass. "I figure you like your house uncharred?"

Most of the girls decided to head back inside, wanting to avoid getting any more soaked in the flammable substance, but Annelida gave him a hopeful look and a smile as fierce as a knife. "Maybe… I could help you with this."

Deciding to ignore the hunger in her eyes, Cyrus asked "How, exactly? You don't have a weapon… I think?"

"With these, of course!" she said, tapping her pearly whites. "Others may know me as the Eater of Worlds, and I'm sure I could… handle a few of those slimes."

Cyrus had seen many strange things in this strange new world, but watching a young woman eat an entire slime was definitely high on that list of oddities. "Uhhh…. Are you ok?"

Annelida licked her lips and gave him a fang filled smile. "Definitely. I assure you, I am always hungry. How about I take those slimes over there and you take the rest?"

* * *

At the very least, having two people batting the slimes away from their houses made the process a lot faster; although Cyrus decided that maybe he should look into giving Annelida bigger portions. The girl could certainly eat.

"I assure you, they taste delicious. You really should try them!"

Cyrus stuck out his tongue and caught a bit of the slimy rain. "I suppose it's not bad, but I can't help but feel that I'm eating something dangerous, considering how flammable it is, and the source."

"And going to hell isn't dangerous?"

* * *

Cyrus felt a deep sense of relief as the downpour seemed to slow, with fewer and fewer slimes taking shape in the grass, and it became clear that he and Annelida were disposing of them faster than they were taking shape.

He skewered one, and then noticed that the slime from the creature started… moving? It flowed behind him and he turned to see where it was going only to find a growing mound of slime that had reached the size of a house, with a faint human figure hanging suspended in the gelatinous mass, surrounded by a big, hoop-like structure. The mass took the shape of a normal slime, and the hoop inside of it rose through its body until it sprouted from the beast's top, revealing itself to be a gleaming crown of pure gold, spangled with gemstones, sapphires and emeralds, with six truly monstrous rubies, each the size of Cyrus' head tying the crown together. This, Cyrus figured, was the King of the Slimes, and it took a tremendous leap to try to crush him as Cyrus ran out of the way.

"What is that?" Cyrus exclaimed, delivering a glancing blow with his spear as he dodged the body of the tremendous beast.

"It looks like an unusually large slime, dear." Annelida snarked back.

Cyrus took a flying leap and cut with his spear, shaving off a chunk of the King Slime that fell to the ground with a splat. He lept back, only to realize that all the progress he made by cutting off a fragment was made invalid when the piece just… flowed back to the main body, rejoining it and restoring the flawless whole.

The first idea Cyrus had to fight the creature was to light the creature on fire, but he realized that would be a tremendously bad idea for two reasons: One, he might accidentally start a tremendous forest fire, and two, it might hurt whoever was suspended inside the creature, or the girl who would inevitable appear when the creature was defeated (Cyrus didn't expect any different at this point, in all honesty). How would he get rid of all that extra slime without burning down the entire village? Then he looked to his left and saw Annelida. _Oh._

"Annelida, whenever I cut a slice off of that thing, can you eat it before it reattaches to whole?"

She gave him another one of her predatory smiles. "Certainly. Let's get to work."

* * *

Once the two of them got in to a rhythm the King Slime wasn't really a threat. Bit by bit the slime shrunk and shrunk as cut strips out of the creature, getting smaller and smaller while retaining the same slime-like shape. Eventually the creature got so small that the crown slipped off of its body and crashed to the ground with a faint boom. However, as it got smaller and smaller the creature grew more agile, leaping higher into the air. Cyrus wondered if the poor girl inside was okay, getting rocked around like that, and he had to strike carefully not to accidentally nick the human figure hanging inside the slime.

Finally, with one last heavy strike with his spear, the slime surrounding the girl sudden became much more liquid and less viscous, flowing off the person inside like water off a duck's back, revealing a young woman. She was small and willowy, with short blue hair, and she wore a thin circlet of gold studded with gems and a long, dark blue dress which covered a body composed of slime instead of normal flesh and bone. Cyrus could pick her up without too much effort.

"So…. I guess we've got a new villager? Our town just keeps on growing…" Annelida mused, joining Cyrus on his walk home as the rain came to a halt.

At this point, Abigail was resigned to always having at least one bed full with someone who needed to be looked after. She double check both Annelida and Cyrus, and other than a thorough dosing in slime, they both escaped unscathed from the King of Slimes. Or would she be a Queen? Cyrus shook his head and left to take a bath.

* * *

Sometime the next morning, the slime girl's eyes fluttered open, looking around at Cyrus and Abigail. "Where… where am I?" she asked, voice slightly raspy.

"You're in our village. I suppose we don't have a real name for the place yet. You sound a little thirsty. Do you need some water?"

"Yes. Now go fetch some for me, would you?" she demanded, turning up her nose.

"Well sure thing, your majesty" she gave a regal smile at that.

"At least someone here recognizes my station as King of the Slimes." she said, looking smug.

"Wait. King? Are you a dude?" Cyrus felt something like hope bubble up in his chest. He certainly didn't dislike any of his guest, but he would appreciate a little less estrogen, all things considered.

"That's a tad sexist of you, isn't it? What keeps a woman from being a King? It just means the ruler of a kingdom" she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Plus… the position of Queen is kind of taken."

"Then who's the Queen?"

She waved her hand dismissively, "You'll meet her eventually, I'm sure. Now get me that water! Us slimes need it for our health, you know."

* * *

It was clear that the poor girl was thirsty, but she made a valiant effort not to spill the pitcher of water she was drinking from. Cyrus could appreciate her class, but the jury was still out on her attitude.

"So what's your name, your majesty? Cyrus found that playing into her ego made her cooperative (or maybe she just thought he was disrespecting her when he didn't).

"You may call me Visca, King of All Slimes!" she stopped preening herself for a moment to puff out her chest in pride.

"Sure thing…" she glared at him. "Your majesty."

Then there was a sudden knocking at the door. "May I come in?"

Cyrus smiled. It would be good to introduce Visca to the rest of the town. "Come on in."

Annelida opened the door, leaned in, and jumped back as Visca shrieked in fear. "Keep her away from me!"

"That's just Annelida. I promise she won't hurt you."

"She ate my subjects alive!"

Annelida peaked through the door again and shrugged. "Maybe you should get less tasty subjects."

* * *

After just barely keeping Visca from throttling Annelida, things returned to normality, as warped as Cyrus' normal was by this point. After a tour of the town, Visca immediately demanded the largest room she could find, a room belonging to Cyrus, but he recognized a loosing battle when he saw one, and conceded the room.

That night Cyrus just couldn't sleep, haunted by visions of of the pits of hell and demons with flashing ivory claws. He walked outside to get some fresh air and saw someone lying on the roof of one of the houses, gazing at the stars.

Clambering up next to the person, he realized he was sharing a roof with Cthylla, who turned to greet him. "You can't get any sleep either?"

"Yeah. Could you scoot a little?"

She smiled and shifted a little. "Of course." She really was beautiful, Cyrus thought. Her hair was so dark he could barely see where it stopped and the night sky started. Her blue eyes gleamed, reflecting the stars spangling the sky above them.

"I love the night. Maybe it's because I was nocturnal as the eye? Or maybe because it's when I became human." Cthylla mused, looking up at the moon. "All the tiny little craters speckling the moon's surface. I like counting them before I go to sleep. I think there are a few dozen?"

"Wait. Dozens" I can barely see any craters when I squint. I mean sure I can tell there's some dark grey and light gray intermingling, but I can't count craters like you can."

"Maybe… it means I've got exceptional eyesight? Certainly fitting for the Eye."

"I may not be able to see as well as you, but I can definitely appreciate how beautiful y- the night is."

Cthylla smiled at him. "Definitely. So many beautiful things to see." She was looking him straight in the eyes, and leaned towards him. Her skin looked so soft, her eyes were so blue…

"Hey! What are you two up to?" Annelida seemed to be peaking on the roof, trying to wriggle her way onto the roof with her long, worm-like tail. He felt a little angry at her for interrupting the moment, but Cthylla sent her a vitriolic glare. "What do you think you're doing? We're in the middle of something?"

Annelida grinned. "In the middle of what, dear?"

"Well… ah… it's none of your business!"

Cyrus gave Annelida a hand and pulled her onto the roof. "We're getting a little tight on space, aren't we?"

"I think things would just turn out better if we shared, ya know." Annelida shifted on the roof, the smooth coils of her tail shifting under her as she leaned back.

"What do mean, share?"

"Space on the roof, of course. Did you think I meant something else?" she was still smiling, twirling her long hair in her hand.

Cthylla flushed a deep red. Cyrus thought Annelida was being a little cruel, honestly.

* * *

Cyrus could feel a sort of tension in the air, and didn't really want to think about what the source might be. It made breakfast a less enjoyable affair than usual, but they tried to be hospitable for their new companion, Visca.

"So this sort of fare is what you eat? I suppose it's fine enough." Visca shrugged, and despite her haughty attitude she was eating as quickly as her refined manners allowed.

Annelida and Medulla whispered to each other quietly as Cthylla inhaled her breakfast. Cyrus turned to Garrett, and asked "So Garrett, do you any idea about what I should do next?" Nissa perked up as well, clearly interested in giving Cyrus the tools he needed to fight evil.

"Well… I see two options for progress at this point, the underground jungle or the depths of the dungeon. I'd recommend the jungle first, as the latter has a fierce guardian."

"A fierce guardian? One… like us?" Medulla looked up, and Cyrus had a strange feeling that she would be taking notes if she had a notepad handy.

"Yes, I think. There should be something similar in the depths of the underground jungle, but there are all sorts of things to find in the jungle before fighting the creature, if you even run into it at all."

Cyrus thought getting away from the town for a while might be a good idea. He got up to grab his equipment as the rest of the group finished up breakfast.

* * *

After making sure to cover up as much skin as possible to prevent another bug bites incident, Cyrus left for the jungle, and within half a day he had reached the sun soaked hills of the jungle. There was a sweet, almost flowery smell in the air, but Cyrus knew that like the rest of this world, beautiful exteriors could hide fatal interiors.

He was fortunate enough to find a cave entrance before he drowned in sweat, seeking relief from the burning sun and choking humidity. Of course, grabbing a drink of water from the lakes or rivers of the jungles proved inadvisable, as they teemed with razor fanged piranhas which would certainly liberate a few fingers from his hand if he tried to dip in a canteen or bottle for a drink.

The mud of the jungle squished slightly under his feet, but at the very least he was out of the sun. The caves weaved through the earth for a short while, before opening up into a truly massive cavern, shaped like a massive inverted cone, narrowing as the cavern descended deeper into the earth. He could see a massive brickwork structure poking out from the opposite side of the cavern, covered in lush greenery and curling vines bursting with vibrant blue and red flowers; however, Cyrus couldn't spot an entrance that he could reach.

Turning, he saw something he certainly could access: a truly massive beehive, less than a hundred feet from his cave's opening into the cavern. Carefully securing a rope to a particularly tough mahogany root, he began to cautiously climb the flaky mud which crumbled under his hands. He could feel sweat pouring down his palms, soaking into the slick mud and moss under his hands. He could feel his grip slipping, but he got close enough to get a grip on the hive and began to climb the structure of the beehive, inching towards the entrance where he saw bees flying in and out in thick clouds. He realized that maybe diving into a swarm of bees wouldn't be good for his health, and after securing himself via rope to the honeycombs, before tossing a lit torch into the hive's mouth, the smoke and flame spooking the bees as Cyrus climbed in.

The size of the hive was truly massive, easily thirty times Cyrus' height and just as wide, the walls divided into hexagonal cells so tall that Cyrus could stand at this full height inside them without bending over. In the center of hive, separated from him by deep pools of yellow honey, was a sort of larva suspending in a yellow-ish, amber like substance. The air smelled sweet, unsurpisingly like honey, but there was a strange earthy scent in the air as well, in addition to the acrid smell of poison.

Cyrus figured this hive would be as good as place as any to take a break and explore the jungle from, and he turned to block up the entrance somehow, but found himself nearly face to face with a massive wasp, buzzing mere inches from his face, and he dove to the side as it loosed a massive stinger at him. He hit the wasp with the flat of his spear, crushing one of its wings and sending it spiralling into the depths of the cavern. Then he heard a deep, echoing roar that caused any monsters he could see to flee. He turned with growing horror to see a massive bee hovering in the air, wings churning the air and sending ripples into the pools of honey dotting the floor.

He cursed under his breath and took a defensive stance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! If it wasn't clear, the wasp's sting hit the larva and woke the Queen Bee up. I tried to implement some more "ojou-sama" like traits in Visca, and for the name, it's roughly based on the word viscous, plus at this point I might just stick with the names ending in A thing. If you want some more of the whole personified boss goodness (plus my inspiration for Annelida's design) go check out the Reddit user Dukethra, who drew a bunch of personified boss girls. I also tried to lean into the monster side of the girls a bit more today. What do you guys think? I love reading reviews.


	5. Dulce et Decorum Est

The bee was colossal, nearly thrice his height, and while the beast had no iris and instead two massive, basketball-size compound eyes, Cyrus could tell the creature was glaring at him, mandibles twitching. The air was filled with the scent of honey left out for too long, and he could see a strange, comb-like structure where a normal bee's sting would be, and then he saw bees easily the size of his fingers start wriggling out.

Whatever bees he made managed to scare away with his torch trick came swarming back, in clouds so thick and dense they obscured the walls and blocked his vision. He could tell immediately that attempting to use his pistol on that seething swarm would fail miserably, and any bullets simply wouldn't cause enough damage to stem the tide.

His eyes darted around, looking for any way he could turn the situation to his advantage, and saw another entrance to the bee hive, its honey-comb walls dripping with nectar and pollen. Strafing to the right, Cyrus ran towards the entrance as the Queen Bee gave a shriek and launched a stinger easily the size of an arrow, which he ducked under as it soared overhead and sunk deep into the walls of the hive, seeping a vivid green venom that hissed like a snake when it intermingled with the honey, although Cyrus could barely hear it over the deep, constant thrum of the Queen Bee's wings. The entrance was so thin he could barely squeeze through it normally, and he dropped a torch in the crevice to dissuade the swarms from following him.

He looked around to find himself in a small grotto, thick with bushes and mahogany trees growing in the pale green light of jungle spores, all of which ringed a deep pool of tepid water, leaves and algae covering its surface. He was considering how he could use this to his advantage, he heard a loud impact and turned to see the wall of the hive caving in towards him, as if the Queen Bee had reared back and charged into the wall at full speed in order to reach him. A few moments later this theory was confirmed when another impact echoed through the cave and the hive's exterior began to crack and bend, honey pouring like ichor from the breaks in the walls.

Cyrus began to cover the ground in all the slime he had on him, letting it cover the leaves and bushes and soaking into the trunks of the trees, trying to keep his cool as the Queen Bee beat a slow, heavy tempo into the shattering walls of the hive. He could see fragments of thick yellow beeswax falling away, bouncing off the ground with thunderous impact. He pulled a torch from his pack, lit it, and waited.

With a great crash the wall of the hive finally shattered, and bees poured out like water pouring from a collapsing damn. Cyrus took a deep breath, threw the torch directly into the center of the foliage, and dove backwards into the water as his torch started a conflagration. Sinking into the green-ish muck, grabbed a hold on the side of the pond and waited as long as he could to take a breath. He could see the greenery of the grotto rapidly turning into a mix of a red and orange, the fires gaining a strange sort of quality, like they were being viewed through foggy glass. Faintly, he could could the roar of the fire as it spread, eating up leaves and scorching the sides of the hive, honey rapidly caramelizing as the Queen Bee let out a shriek of fury, apparently as unwilling to enter the water as her subjects were.

Cyrus saw something flitting through the water, a dark shape in the corner of his vision, and realized he may have just traded in one swarm of enemies for another. He bumbled with his spear, unused to handling it in the water, but managed to spear one of the piranhas before it could take a bite out of him, blood clouding the water and attracting even more piranhas to him. As he fended off a couple more of the creatures, he could see a sprinkling of ash landing on the surface of the water, evidently the result of the massive conflagration he had started. He had a feeling Nissa would hit him if he accidentally burned down the entire jungle, but couldn't really bring himself to care about the environment as a bee the size of a small house.

At the same time, could feel his lungs burning, and he needed air, but he waited a few moments longer to make sure that more bees were caught up in the flames before surfacing for a panting breath of the searing air. He inhaled deeply (and fortunately didn't breath in a bee) and saw the fires filling the room as the Queen Bee shrieked and launched a fusillade of stingers at him, and he dove once more, the stings missing him and slowing to a crawl in the water. Curious, he decided to grab a few and stuck them in his bag, and then continued to fend off the swarming piranhas as the bees were consumed in fire, occasionally seeing a bee drop into the water, dead from the heat of the flames.

After this third surfacing and narrow dodge of the Queen Bee's stingers, he thought he saw a path between the flames that could get him back to the (hopefully) less flammable hive, where he could fight the Queen Bee without getting charred. He leapt from the water, weaving from side to side to avoid the stingers as best he could before reentering the hive and turning to fire at the Queen Bee.

It seemed to alternate between wild charges where he would respond with his spear and periods of strafing where it would shoot stingers at him from range. Cyrus vaguely wondered if the Queen Bee needed time to regrow her stings before dodging another barrage of them. The bee's exoskeleton was so strong that his bullets bounced off, leaving little choice to aim for the head of the rapidly moving beast.

If only it was a little slower, he thought, then realized that while he may not be able to pierce the bee's exoskeleton, the thin, gossamer wings of the bee were a different matter entirely. When the Queen Bee charged him for the umpteenth time, his spear struck true and separated its left wing clean from its body, sending the creature veering into a nearby wall with enough force to make him tremble.

By the time he had reached it, the smoke had already cleared, and a woman lay in the crater formed by the monstrous bee's crash. She had long blonde (honey colored?) hair that had two antenna peaking through, and she wore a long sort of dress divided into yellow and black stripes. She had a pack of some sort slung over back, but even that couldn't fully hide the pair of bee wings which sprouted from her back and seemed to fit through holes in the back of her dress. Cyrus supposed that if he had wings attached to his body, he would need special clothes to fit them.

After stopping to grab a few of the vivid jungle flowers (with his luck the girl only ate pollen from certain flowers or something) before lifting her up and using his magic mirror to teleport home.

* * *

After passing the girl off to the nurse he visited Nissa, to ask her about gardening. At this point he was basically used to the dryad's state of dress and could actually hold a conversation with the woman.

"Flowers? What's next, dinner?" Nissa snarked, looking at the bundle of vibrant blue and red blooms which he carried.

"No actually. It seems a little silly, but I thought maybe because the new girl was a bee she needed honey, or maybe she would need or prefer flowers from the jungle?"

"You want to plant them somewhere? Sure. All these poor girls have had their lives changed so much, and while I get Annelida and Medulla not wanting reminders of the corruption, I think our new friend might miss her home."

Nissa and Cyrus spent the evening gardening, marking off an enclosure of dirt and planting the flowers in the dark, crumbling soil. Nissa always seemed so worried, for good reason certainly, given that the Corruption and Crimson were spreading, but seeing that grimace melt off her face as she focused on gardening made Cyrus think that the entire trip was worthwhile. She definitely had more of a green thumb than him (did she have to water her clothes? Were they preserved by dryad magic?) but was patient when showing him how to dig holes and implant the flowers in them.

* * *

After dinner, Cyrus went to back to visit the still unconscious bee-girl. He was determined to try to be there for these girls when they woke up, at least. Thinking on what Nissa said, every one of these girls must have been tremendously confused when woke up- in an completely alien form and among strangers.

Sometime late at night her eyes opened, a soft shade of brown that almost looked like honey in the warm torchlight. She held a hand up to block the light and groaned. "Could you tell me where I am, mister?"

"You're in a village, we never really came up with a proper name for it. My name is Cyrus, what's yours?"

"It may seem a little on point… but Bea." It was definitely fitting, but Cyrus could understand how awkard a name like that might be. It would be like if Garrett was actually named Guide, no other name given.

"Well, do you need anything, Bea? Could I… bee of assistance?" She laughed at that one (Cyrus honestly thought he might scare the poor girl off if she didn't like puns. It was way too easy) and waved dismissively.

"No, honey. I'm fine." Cyrus had a feeling he would like this girl very much.

* * *

The next day, during lunch, Bea had joined Cyrus and the rest of the Boss Girls for a picnic, next to the patch of flowers he and Nissa had planted.

Cthylla was peering at Bea's wings with curiosity. "Do… do your wings work?"

"Yes, I think so." Bea said, rising to her feet and wiping off her dress. Turning away from the group, she broke into a run and jumped into the air, spiraling in the air and hovering slightly above the ground before looping around to hover next to the group, her wings a making a steady thrumming in the air.

"In fact, I think I could…" she wrapped her arms around Cyrus' torso, tucking them beneath his arms before flying up high in the air. Cyrus panicked for a moment, but once his heart rate calmed down he realized that it was actually rather nice up here in the sky, and he could see all the houses that made up the village in a way he had never thought of before.

Then Cyrus remembered how he got up here exactly, and all of a sudden he was flushing, feeling Bea's arms wrapped tight around him as she pressed up against his body. "Do you like the view?" She asked, giggling, and he could feel her warm breath on his neck.

He definitely liked the little trip, but the rest of the girls turned on Bea for scaring them like that. She did manage to calm them all down by promising trips into the air, and Cyrus wondered if it reminded of their old forms, or if they even liked thinking about their old forms as Bea buzzed through the air, carrying Cthylla under her.

* * *

It turned out that Bea had another remarkable skill other than flight: she was the best cook of all them, with a borderline magical ability to transform food into works of culinary art. She also didn't eat pollen or nectar, but she managed to convince Cyrus into constructing apiaries to get honey without having to go on a trip to the jungle. She seemed to have a supernatural ability to control bees, and Cyrus couldn't help but wonder what other sorts of powers the other girls had. Annelida had inherited the tail from her old form of course, Cthylla had incredibly sharp eyesight, and Cyrus noticed that ever since Visca had shown up slimes had stopped showing up near the town, although whether this was the result of gratitude or a desire to keep her subjects alive remained unclear.

Over dinner, Cyrus almost asked if Bea had inherited a stinger from her previous bee form, but he realized what asking a bee-girl to show him her stinger might entail and quickly shut his mouth. Far down the table, he could see Garrett scribbling into a notebook between bites, and Cyrus couldn't help but wonder why he was writing so fanatically, but decided that if it was truly urgent then Garret would have told him about it and shrugged it off. Plus, surviving dinner was usually an ordeal all on its own when the girls fought over seats never him, so it quickly slipped from his mind as Garrett scribbled away.

* * *

Cyrus' next destination was the Dungeon, although he had very little idea what the place was actually like, other than vague descriptions of a horrifying guardian defending the entrance to the buried catacombs and tunnels full of loot. He departed in the morning and after a packed lunch courtesy of Bea, found the blue brickwork structure in the afternoon.

A ragged old man stood vigil in front of the entrance, and stopped Cyrus before he could reach the door. "Halt, traveler! Until you relieve me of my curse, this dungeon holds nothing for you except death and woe."

"Then how do I free you?"

"Speak to me again when the sun sets and sky darkens." The old man stopped Cyrus when he got too close to the door, and he didn't really want to fight him, but there was a strange, rot like smell coming from the drafty door that told him that heeding the old man's advice would probably be in his best interest, so he took a seat on a nearby hill and tried to sleep a little before what he feared would be another brutal fight.

When the sun set in the evening, he rose to his feet and approached the elderly man once more. "I suppose if you've stayed around for this long, you will not give up just because I asked you?" Cyrus nodded.

The old man gave a resigned sigh. "Then please, save me from my curse." He seemed to vanish, and a hovering skeletal head took his place, the bones of the arms hovering on each of the thing's sides. Its sockets were cold and empty, although the structure of the skull gave Cyrus the distinct impression he was being glared at.

It let out a shriek and swung with its hand, attempting to crush Cyrus against one of the dungeon's support pillars, and he leapt backwards, sprinting outside as the creature tried to crush him, slapping against the ground or trying to catch him between the two hands with claps that sounded like that thunder. Cyrus quickly decided to focus his attacks on the hands, in hopes of crippling the thing's offensive abilities.

If he thought the Queen Bee was bad to aim at, this possessed skeleton was just as bad, with narrow bones that would already be hard to hit even before they started swinging around like wrecking balls. Every shot that landed on the arms was much more effective than those that hit the head, with sprays of bone and marrow resulting from every shot that landed. However, the arms still remained functional even when filled with great holes.

The left arm broke first, and it was as if whatever magic kept the arm moving in synch with the head stopped, sending massive fragments of bone hurtling through the air, crashing into trees and sinking deep into the walls of the dungeon.

The right arm broke in a similar fashion a few shots later, but the skull changed tactics once it lost both arms, rolling at Cyrus like a possessed bowling ball, knocking trees over and sending them flying into the air like sticks. Then it turned towards him, opened it mouth, and let out a spray of glowing white skulls, their teeth locked into a grimace, which soared towards him as the skull itself reeled up for another rolling attack. At the very least, his bullets seemed a little more effective now that both arms were gone.

Each of the smaller skulls curved in the air, seemingly guided perfectly to intercept his path as he dodged the main head, and he felt one glance his side as he dodged a particularly viscous charge, the skull bouncing off the ground like a ball.

Breathing was harder now, his breath came in deep pants, but he aimed with his pistol and fire a shot directly into the creature's eye socket. The bullet struck, bounced, and then continued to do so again and again, filling the beast's head with a spray of bony shrapnel. Enraged, it rolled towards him, kicking up earth as it soared across the ground, and suddenly Cyrus realized he couldn't dodge this one-

and it evaporated into smoke like all the bosses before it, and Cyrus could swear he heard a deep sigh of relief. Once the smoke cleared, it revealed a young woman that could have passed for the original old man's daughter, wearing a similar gray vest and red scarf (although in a much better state o repair), although both arms were covered in long opera gloves that hid the whole of her arms. Her hair was a beautiful sort of silver that gleamed in the light of the moon as Cyrus stumbled over to her.

Looking down, Cyrus could recognize that something was horribly wrong, a great piece of his chestplate was missing, the edges warped and bent, and the skin beneath the missing armor was horrifically burned in a way that didn't look anything like a normal burn, leaving the flesh white and drained of blood, as if it was some sort of magical curse had withered the flesh away. He felt faint, but tumbled over to the girl and tucked an arm under her before fumbling with his magic mirror and sending them both home.

As he closed his eyes to rest, he could have sworn he heard people shouting….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to lie and pretend this is a cliffhanger or anything, we all know protag-kun here will survive for more harem adventures, I just wanted a chance to advance the relationships a little (and get the girls to play nurse, which is always fun).
> 
> The clothier's role will be filled by personified Skeletron, and I'm racking my brain to figure out how I can get the girls into maid outfits. Well maybe not, I'll see how it goes, but outfit changes and all that. Next installment is looking like preparation for the Wall, so I don't think we'll get to see her until the chapter after next?
> 
> If it isn't blindingly obvious, I like puns. Bea's name is rather self explanatory (bee, obviously, plus sticking to A motif I've got going on). I'm very proud of the fight scene at the start of the chapter, and I think this probably the most action heavy one yet- tell me what you think! More harem interactions coming next time, but tell me if you think I try for more cooldown between fights.
> 
> Chapter title is Latin, literally "It is sweet and fitting" I picked that because honey is sweet, plus the second part of the phrase is "pro patria mori", meaning "to die for one's country" and considering the chapter's two bosses were associated with sweetness and death, seemed like a logical choice. Funny coincidence, a clothier would do fitting of clothes, adding some unintentional meaning. I was considering calling it Komm, Susser Todd (Come, Sweet Death) after the song in End of Evangelion, but Cyrus doesn't actually die so.


	6. Tiny Differences...

The first thing Cyrus noticed was a strange, sticky feeling in his mouth, and a sweet, cloying taste he recognized as being the result of Abigail's healing potions, when she occasionally forced him to drink them after he got himself injured in fights. Opening his eyes, his vision was blurry, but he could see silhouettes crowding his bed, blocking the faint torchlight filling the room. "He's up, he's up!" Was that… Cthylla?

His vision was clearing and he could see everyone sitting around him. Cthylla, Medulla, Annelida, Visca, the skeleton girl, Bea and Nissa sleeping in chairs to the side, and Abigail rushing over. "What happened?" he croaked, his voice sounding dry and raspy.

"You nearly got yourself killed, you dumbass." Visca glared at him, pushing a strand of blue hair to the side.

The girls were angry at him, and as he felt a spike of pain in his side he felt angry at himself. He should have prepared more before facing the skeleton creature. The girl who came from the monster, the lass with the silver hair, seemed embarrassed and was staring at the ground in a way that suggested she received a serious tongue lashing from the other girls. Medulla stood in front of him, arms on her hips, and said "We've made an executive decision, you're not going out to fights like that alone, and you need much better equipment. We've talked to Garret about it some already, and we've some plans. Garret straight up refused to share any information about what powerful creature is next until you get better equipment, and we agree with him."

"I'm not going to disagree with taking steps towards not getting murdered, if that's what you're implying."

Then Annelida gave him a saccharine grin that chilled him to his core. "Lacrima here" she patted the silver-haired girl, apparently named Lacrima, on the shoulder "provided us with some towels, so we can give a sponge bath!"

Cyrus tried to run, but Annelida pushed him back into his seat. "Ah ah, doctor's orders! Now sit back and let us take care of you~"

* * *

For the next few days Cyrus stayed in bed, although the company certainly wasn't bad. Sure, he was always under watch, but he was also recovering from some truly funky magic that the nurse was struggling with healing, even with books Lacrima had plucked from the dungeon. She and Bea had gone on a trip to grab some, and used his magic mirror to come back, but it did probably save his life.

Cyrus couldn't help but enjoy the doting, though. Annelida had improved her apple cutting skills considerably since the last time he was in a hospital bed, Bea insisted on bringing him soup, and Lacrima would share her books with him. She wasn't very talkative, but reading ancient tomes from the dungeon certainly gave him something to do other than just sitting around and feeling pain. Visca would occasionally "grant him the pleasure of her company" but she cared in her own strange way.

Three days after he woke up, Medulla and Annelida came to visit him, relatively late one night. He could see them in the moonlight, and they sat on either side of him.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" Cyrus asked. He certainly wasn't surprised by visits at strange hours, in fact it was Cthylla's modus operandi, but those two weren't really night owls like she was.

Both girls seemed silent for a moment, Medulla toyed with a bit of loose thread on her sweater and all of Annelida's eyes seemed to look away. "That is… uhhh, well Medulla and I have been talking recently, about our feelings."

"Your feelings?"

Medulla looked towards him. "Our feelings for you, that is." Cyrus' eyes widened. They couldn't mean _those_ kind of feelings, could they? And both of them?

Both of them took his hands. "That is… if you're willing, we'd both like to be in a relationship with you."

"Me? Why me?"

"Yes, you. Because you, in some way, made us who we are, you saved us from our old selves. You may be a bit on idiot, but you're brave enough to fight so many dangerous creatures all by yourself. You're a charming person Cyrus, and I'm sure a lot of the other girls agree with the sentiment." Annelida grinned. "We just worked up the courage first!"

Cyrus had admittedly tried not to think too hard about his relationship with the girls. Of course, he realized that they were very pretty women, but getting into a relationship with one of them wasn't really something he considered. Any one of them would have been great- but two? It seemed a little unrealistic, but so did brains the size of houses, and Cyrus wasn't quite dumb enough to miss out on a chance like this.

"Sure… just can we get into the details tomorrow? It's late."

The girls gave him two smiles so bright that for a moment he could have sworn it was day.

* * *

The nurse had given him tentative permission to leave the room, if he was escorted by someone, and considering the ache that still lingered all up and down his side, he really couldn't blame her. His escort consisted of Medulla and Annelida, who each grabbed one his arms and pressed it to their chests before walking him to the town's de facto dining area.

Cyrus was already cringing before they walked through the door, and the reactions were just about as poor as he expected. Cthylla choked on what she was eating and Bea and Visca shared a similar expression, mouths open in a sort of O. Medulla and Annelida seemed unbearably smug, and Cyrus couldn't lie and say his ego wasn't inflated a little by having two beautiful girls interested in him.

"You look awfully chipper, Cyrus. Feeling better?" Abigail seemed more amused than anything.

"The pain's faded quite a bit. Do you think I'll be able to go out and about soon?"

"Three or four more days, I'd figure, Cyrus. You've got good company, huh. Don't jump him too hard, girls. You'll impede his recovery." Abigail smirked, and Cyrus could see Medulla and Annelida flushing the same shade of deep red he was sure his face was turning.

Cyrus tried to hide his blush by eating some food, but Medulla had snatched his fork already. "Open wide~" and he really couldn't refuse his girlfriend, could he? Or one of them, at least.

* * *

A few hours later the three of them were relaxing outside, Medulla and Cyrus' heads resting on the coils of Annelida's tail, sunning and simply enjoying idleness.

"I could spend forever like this," Cyrus mused, "I mean, can things really get better than a day like this?"

Annelida gave him a coy look. "Well, we can certainly try, can't we?" and suddenly her lips were pressing up against his, and his day had gotten a lot better.

Stopping to take a breath of air, felt a tapping on his shoulder and looked to see Medulla with an expectant expression on her face.

Cyrus realized he was a very lucky man.

* * *

The awkwardness at dinner was incredible, especially considering how comfortable Annelida had grown in publicly displaying her affection, frequently with tongue.

"So… Garrett, the girls mentioned a few plans to make better equipment? What are our plans once my health is restored?"

"Lots of stuff. I don't know much about what comes after this next challenge, it's almost like a wall. I can't see past it, but I do know, vaguely, that it will make it a lot harder to get some jobs done now, so we should finish them while we can."

"What sorts of jobs?"

"There's a lot of equipment you'll need, plus it will be good just to gain a better understanding of the world around us. Cthylla is going to help you explore the caves, because her night vision is so good. Bea's wings should also make a lot of exploration a lot faster. You also need to grab a few things from the dungeon and the jungle. You have a concerning habit of picking fights with the biggest thing you can find whenever you find somewhere new, before you can actually get stuff done. After that, you'll need to go mining in hell, to get the best possible armor you can get."

"That's an awful lot, Garrett."

"But you have help."

* * *

The first errand on the list was underground exploration with Cthylla, but she could barely look him in the eye. Of course, Cyrus understood why, but he knew that attempting to defuse the situation without backing from Annelida and Medulla would result in him managing to bungle things in a spectacular fashion.

The caves were miserable, cold and clammy and so dark that they seemed to swallow up the light of his tunnels. Cthylla seemed fine though, leaping with agility from rock to rock and outcrop to outcrop, clad in plain, functional clothes Lacrima had made for her, although Cthylla made them look as good as the fine dress he had first found her in.

They found many abandoned cabins underground, thick with spiderwebs and unusual loot, like strange magical charms and a collection of vile, suspicious looking eyes that Cthylla felt a strange connection to. Cyrus accidentally gave one a squeeze… only for it to evaporate into air, before Cthylla suddenly popped into his arms from the other side of the cavern, and both flushed. "So that's what those do."

* * *

Another curious discovery was a massive cavern that was absolutely filled with spiderwebs, crawling with dozens of man-sized spiders. The room was interesting, certainly, but Cyrus was just about to leave before he saw something vaguely human shaped covered in webs on the floor of the cavern. Or was it a someone?

"Say, Cthylla. Can you tell me what that lump on the floor there is? I can't get a good look."

"It's…. a person!"

"Alright then, let's save them."

The spiders were fierce, but Cyrus had fought an arthropod the size of a small house before, compared to the Queen Bea these things were practically tame.

Carefully cutting the webs off the victim revealed a woman with very vibrant red hair tied back in a bow, who stumbled to her feet, dusting webs off of her apron. "My name is Roxanne. It's a pleasure to meet you, although I'm sure we could share more pleasantries when we're not trapped in a spider cave?"

"Okay then. Grab on." Cyrus pulled the mirror from his pocket, and as Cthylla gripped his should shoulder he grabbed Roxanne's wrist and teleported the three of them home as the spiders skittered around the cavern.

* * *

After that came the underground jungle, which was just as warm and humid as Cyrus remembered it being, and while very few things could make flying with Bea not enjoyable, needing to stop and drink water every five minutes was one of them. They had found an entrance to that mysterious jungle temple, but the door was locked and far too durable for even explosives to shatter, although he wasn't really inclined to go in the first place- it gave him chills and the distinct impression that something horrible lurked inside.

The hornets were miserable, but one of them dropped a strange sort of green stone that seemed a little too big to have been hiding inside the creature. Bea helpfully explained that it was a bezoar (the hornet certainly didn't look like a goat, Cyrus thought) that could help fight many common poisons. He was sure Garrett would be impressed with that. Other interesting finds included an unusual green anklet and a strange pair of clawed gloves, although Cyrus thought they were pittance compared to all the trouble he went through to get them.

* * *

Lacrima accompanied him to the dungeon because she seemed to have the best understanding of the place out of everyone in their little group. The door of the dungeon opened up into a dark chamber faintly lit by bluish candles, with a great gap opening up in the floor, like the gullet of some foul beast.

The tunnels didn't really feel like they were built for people, zigging and zagging unpredictable, doubling back over itself and rife with false entrances and traps. They often needed rope just to travel down the great empty shafts of the dungeon. They were also full of roaming skeletons and cursed apparitions that seemed to appear at the worst possible time, sliding through walls and furniture alike as if they weren't there, although they certainly hit hard enough to disprove the idea of impermenance. At least one of the blasted things dropped some strange, eye-shaped charm that seemed to make the cursed skulls bother them a little less. Many of the enemies also seemed to have intricately made gilded keys on them when they died, including massive slimes with only a key in the center.

The shelves were filled with tomes that he couldn't decipher the names of, although one strange red tome with a drop of water emblazoned on the front seemed to call to him. Taking a break and leafing through it, he found nothing he could truly understand until he reached the last page, when he saw a blurb of text that he couldn't read but somehow understood. Rising to his feet, he started to read the book, unconsciously almost, and a bolt of water appeared in his hand before darting in the direction he was pointing his arm, ricocheting off a wall and then dissolving into a misty spray when striking another wall.

Lacrima leaned over "Well that's certainly unusual. I can't make hide nor hair of it."

Cyrus laughed. "Neither can I. It felt like my mouth was moving on its own once I saw those last few words."

"Interesting. Some sort of magic tome?"

"I suppose. I wonder if there's anything else like this in here.

Eventually they found a few golden chests that seemed to match the golden keys they collected, and they were opened to find to find a blue-ish shield marked with a golden cross, a long blue sword that only had one edge, a handgun that seemed much stronger than his revolver, and a another key, although it was dark purple and seemed to have strange patterns carved on it, like it was covered in minuscule fires.

Then, in what had become a trend for the day, he found a woman in the dungeon, squirming as she tried to get out of the ropes that bound her, and Cyrus carefully cut her free then pulled her to her feet. "What's your name, miss?"

"My name's Meredith. Could you get me out of here, stranger?"

"My name's Cyrus, and yes, I can." With a flash of light, the mirror took the three of them home.

* * *

Afterwards, with Garrett's guidance Cyrus made an obsidian skull, which would supposedly protect him from fires before he and Bea went to hell, largely because she could fly him around above the simmering lava, letting the two of them hop from ruined house to ruined house, although Cyrus had to clear the sky with his new handgun so they didn't get attacked by raging demons. Some of the houses were so hot that they would have almost certainly injured him if not for the skull, and Bea had to hover just above the building's surface.

The insides of the houses were like miniature ovens, but he found dark purple chests, covered in patterns of flames, just like the key he found in the dungeon. Trying it, the key worked, and Cyrus found some random potions along with a truly massive orange bow that was worked into the shape of a massive bat, its wings forming the arms of the bow, and a massive trident of a dark metal that seemed to soak light from its surroundings.

Next, he and Bea carefully scoured the land, digging through deposits of ash and mining what few exposed deposits of the strange dark red ore that dotted the landscapes of hell. They seemed to seep lava, and as such needed to be mined with care, but he collected a massive quantity of the material before he and Bea ducked into one of the houses formed from obsidian and found a strange sort of furnace, glowing as hot as lava. Chipping great chunks of obsidian off of the walls, he smelted them together with the hellish ore to create strange bars of red ore mottled with dark black.

* * *

With Garrett's help the bars of hellish ore were reshaped into a set of armor, a massive greatsword, and a set of tools. When cladding the armor, Cyrus felt the strangest sense of lightness, as if he could swing his weapons faster and with more strength then he could before, but he couldn't fathom why. Plating the handgun in the metal also seemed to increase its power (he stopped questioning things like that at this point, honestly).

Nissa and Abigail had also cooperated to help the effort, with Nissa growing all sorts of herbs that greatly helped Abigail in creating potions to increase Cyrus' fighting abilities. "So what are we even preparing to fight, Garrett? You haven't told me how to fight it."

"Well, you'll have to fight it in Hell, so I think you would need to prepare some sort of path to fight the creature, so you're not running directly into a pool of lava."

"Okay, sure. Is there anything else we need to do?"

Before Cyrus could answer him, they were interrupted by the blast of a horn, and the Guide's face transformed into a grimace.

"Well for now, you have more pressing concerns. That horn sounds like a Goblin Invasion."

* * *

Cyrus could see figures in the distance, a great mass of loose Goblin infantry who charged from the east, weapons and armor gleaming in the sun. Pulling out his brand new bow, he pulled back an arrow, noticing how it was almost like a bat flapping its wings as he pulled against the great tension of the bow. Finally loosing the arrow, it seemed to morph in air, the arrowhead transforming in the literal head of a screeching bat which soared towards the mass of goblins, tearing through them, leaving a mass of dead goblins behind it as it soared out of the crowd.

Cyrus grinned, and nocked another arrow before shooting. Column by column the bats tore through the goblins, but by the time they had reached the village they seemed focused on reaching him. Pulling out the dark lance, Cyrus charged, cutting, stabbing, and even striking the Goblins with the pole part of the spear.

However, the issue with spears was that it lost a lot of effectiveness at close range, and one goblin, clad in black, had slipped inside his guard, pulling a knife, but before the blow could land it was struck in the head with a flaming skull. Glancing to the side, Cyrus could see Lacrima on one of the house's roofs, another flaming skull forming in her hand. Cyrus smiled and leapt back into the offensive, his spear punching through the armor of the goblin infantry.

* * *

When the invasion halted, Cyrus was panting, although he walked carefully, avoiding the spike covered balls the Goblins seemed so fond of carrying around and throwing as weapons. He was almost going to start cleaning up the balls when Cyrus stopped him. "Hey, if you're going to do something productive, why not try working on making a path in the Underworld? We can clean this up for you."

As Cyrus slid down the rope which traveled down the shaft of his hellevator, before freezing when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a goblin, although he seemed to be tied up like Meredith, and had a much more bookish appearance than the other goblins.

Carefully cutting the ropes, Cyrus freed the goblin, "And who might you be? I'm Cyrus."

"I'm Knogs. Thank you very much, Cyrus. In fact, I'd like to give you something as a show of gratitude." He pulled out a strange pair of boots, that seemed to have a very thick sole. "These are my rocket boots. I'm sure an adventurer like you could make good use of them."

Cyrus supposed that he should take the poor goblin back to the village and not drag him to hell.

* * *

Knogs had joined the town with the same ease that almost everyone seemed to do, and with his help Cyrus consolidated several of his accessories, combining his Hermes Boots with the Rocket Boots Knogs provided to create a pair of Spectre Boots, which were then combined with other accessories to create Lightning Boots.

After that, Cyrus began work on the bridge, creating a long pathway that wove through the hills and crests of the underworld, sometimes hugging the ruined houses he found, but otherwise going straight over pools of lava that stretched for hundreds of feet in every direction.

When he returned to Garrett and informed him that the bridge was finished, he seemed to sag little. He pulled the small doll that Cyrus had wrestled from that demon all those days ago. When Garrett held it in his hands, Cyrus couldn't help but notice how similar the two looked.

"Take the doll to one of the ends of your bridge, and throw it into a pool of lava. Be ready to run, and take Bea with you. You'll need maneuverability. Goodbye and good luck, Cyrus."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! Another chapter done. Skeletron/clothier girl is named after a part of the skull associated with the eye, and the word lachrymal has an association with crying. I'm imagining the old man was cursed to guard the dungeon and defeating Skeletron let him stop guarding and also killed him. Y'all know what's coming next time. I was seriously considering slipping in a beach tangent at some point, but I think I'll save the beach episode for Fishron.


	7. A Savage Place as Holy and Enchanted

Cyrus felt a strange feeling in his gut as he and Bea descended towards the underworld as if some part of him knew that when he rose from the depths of Hell things would never be the same. (He was right, not that he knew)

The air soon grew hot and sulfuric, and they found themselves walking down the long road Cyrus had prepared, and eventually reached the end of the path, and looked over the edge of the precipice down into the seething pit of lava.

"Here goes nothing." Cyrus tossed the doll into lava, watching it tumble end over end before it fell into the lava. He almost expected it to make a little plop or splash or something, but it sunk into the lava with no real ceremony, and was gone in a few seconds, before the entire underworld seemed to rumble with a terrible force.

* * *

Cthylla had noticed Garrett walking out of the town, and decided to follow him, as he usually wasn't the sort to really go on trips. He walked over to small sort of grotto and clambered to the bottom, lying down and looking at the sky. Cthylla thought it was quite an unusual place for a nap, all things considered-

And then Garrett burst into flames, the fire tearing up his body in seconds before he disappeared into a brief conflagration, until nothing was left, not even ash.

* * *

Something rose from the lava, a horrible mass of flesh that seethed and warped as it grew and grew from the lava, spreading until it seemed to cover his entire field of vision in one direction, from the pits of lava on the floor of hell to the ragged crags of the roof. Great spherical masses of flesh took shape in the wall, before they opened up to reveal mouths that gnashed with dozens of fangs, and eyes that seemed to glare with pure unadulterated hatred despite lacking eyebrows.

Then the wall began to move towards him and Bea slowly, the flesh warping and shifting to squeeze around the landscape of hell, and any creatures unfortunate enough to be in front of the wall would be snapped up by the massive mouths, or by dozens of free flying mouths which were attached to the wall by long stretches of flesh, like some strange, horribly twisted version of the human umbilical chord.

Cyrus pulled out his bow and fired off a shot, watching it soar through the seething mouths before it sunk deep into the flesh of the monster, only for the wall to knit itself back together. He and Bea started to run, firing off shots at the Wall of Flesh as it opened its mouth to release a swarm of leeches which soared through the air, and covering up the smell of sulfur with a horrific smell of rot and decay that sent Bea retching.

It seemed slow, at least for now, and it swallowed up the boards that made up the path behind them, the teeth of the wall crushing it into splinters. At the very least, his attacks on the wall seemed more effective when they hit the eyes and mouths, so that's where he aimed, when he wasn't weaving out of the way of fusillades of lasers the eyes shot at him.

It seemed that the longer they fought, the faster the wall got, rapidly going in speed even as a foul ichor poured from the wall, hissing as it landed on the powder ash that made up the landscape of the Underworld. Despite how often he killed them, the seething mouths that soared through the air seemed to keep on spawning from the wall.

With dawning horror, Cyrus could see that the platform was ending, and the wall kept on speeding up, going faster and faster. When he reached the edge he leapt as far as he could, using his hook and Spectre Boots to outrun the wall, leaping from natural outcroppings or scrambling on the sides of the hellish houses. He couldn't fire back at the Wall of Flesh as often, but it seemed to be speeding up even more.

Just before it seemed like one of the mouths was going to snap him up, his last shot landed and the Wall, like so many bosses before it, dissolved into a great mass of foul fog, before a series of bright lights seemed to pour out from it, flying upwards towards the surface as a mighty roar echoed through Hell, like a screaming wind.

When the air cleared, Cyrus could see a cage of some kind hanging in the air where the Wall used to be, the bars made of strange bricks that were shaped to look almost like scales. Leaping over, Cyrus found the bars were wide enough that he could slip through easily, and he found a massive hammer upon the floor of the cage, pale white with gold trim, with two massive rubies, easily the size of a chicken's egg, on either side of the hammer. There also appeared to be a strange sort of emblem on the floor, a disk with a grey body and silver edges, an arrow emblazoned in gold on its front. Of course, there was also a girl.

The first thing Cyrus thought when he saw her was that she could have been Garrett's sibling. The same complexion and hair color, and similar facial structure. She was tall and willowy, clad in a long red dress. Carefully picking her up, Cyrus pulled out his mirror, and the group teleported home as the world trembled, shaken by the ancient spirits of light and dark...

* * *

Cyrus felt a strange sort of high after beating most of bosses, but when he and Bea returned home in a celebratory mood they found themselves in a very somber village. Cyrus carefully carried the newest member of their town to a bed, he found Abigail and Cthylla discussing in hushed tones.

"What's the matter?"

Cthylla fidgeted for a moment. "Cyrus… Garrett, well Garrett is…"

Cyrus felt his stomach plummet, as if it was trying to get back to the Underworld he left mere minutes ago. "What happened to him? Is he alright?" But Cyrus noticed that no other beds were occupied in the de facto hospital, but Garrett couldn't have, he couldn't have-

"He's dead, Cyrus. I'm sorry." Abigail explained, and he felt her embrace him as his knees buckled under him. Garrett was gone? The man who guided him for so long, the brains (or at least the book knowledge) to his brawn, dead?

His mouth felt dry, as dry as the desert, as dry as Hell- "What… what killed him."

Cthylla sniffed. "He left town a little after you descended, he sat himself down in some little cave and just burst into flames, completely randomly. He was gone in seconds."

Burst into flames… Did Garrett know he was going to die when he threw that doll into the lava? However, he did it anyways, so he must have felt that defeating the Wall of Flesh was important. Suddenly, the strange reactions from Garrett and the feverish writing during the past few days made perfect sense. Cyrus stood up. "Where was that journal he was writing in?"

Abigail passed it to him. "He told me to give it to you, once you came back. He probably predicted that you would win and bring another one of those girls here. I haven't read it. It was meant for you."

With shaking fingers, Cyrus opened the book, trying to ignore the fat tears staining the pages.

_Dear Cyrus,_

_If you're reading this, then you've succeeded. The first thing I want to say is that this is not your fault. I knew what was coming for a while now, and I was resigned to it, to rid this world of evil. Nothing made me happier during these days we shared then seeing you develop, turning from a scared young man to a warrior capable of fighting off the fiercest terrors the world holds. I've never had a kid, but the pride I feel warming my chest is almost certainly what a father feels when his son has grown strong, but you're more than just a son to me, you're my closest friend. I'm sorry I couldn't accompany you any further._

_Speaking of, I can tell you very little of what comes next, unfortunately; although I know the world is going to be transformed by today's battle. I suppose it's rather like death, actually. We'll know nothing until we get there. All I can tell you is this: stay cautious, stay aware, and never take anything at face value. Also, I'd recommend boarding up the village for the first few days. Monsters should be much tougher, but I know you will be triumphant._

_Adieu,_

_Garrett_

Flipping through the rest of the book, he found pages upon pages of detailed information about the world, descriptions of monsters, and instructions about how to make just about everything Cyrus could ever need. Of course, it was hard to read through all the tears.

* * *

Cyrus shored up the defenses of the village, and decided to begin construction on a wide brick wall separating the complex from the rest of the world, although Cyrus made sure to get inside early. Maybe he could dig tunnels in the basements of the houses, to make traveling at night between the houses less dangerous?

Cyrus still felt a sort of cold emptiness in his gut, and when he stopped doing productive work he could feel it swallowing him up. He tumbled onto his bed and started at the ceiling, when he heard the door open. Shifting, he looked up to see Medulla and Annelida standing at the door, looking flushed.

"Hi, Cyrus. We came to check on you, after hearing about Garrett. We know you two were close, that he was basically the first person you remember meeting, and we just want to let you know you're not alone. May we stay?"

Cyrus nodded, and he felt the both of him slip (or slither, in Annelida's case) into bed next to him, and at the very least Cyrus felt a little less alone.

* * *

Breakfast tasted like ash. Cyrus felt cold, the mood was dismal, and he couldn't even really start himself working on the next big project because Garrett would always have advice about this sort of thing. He remembered what the book said, about how the world was going to be transformed, and he decided to take a long walk to think about things.

It was almost like the world was spiting him, with how happy everything was. How could the sky could be so clear, the air be so sweet, the grass so blue, when Garrett was gone? Wait a second, blue grass? Cyrus looked down, and suddenly realized that the grass he was walking on was a bright blueish color instead of the verdant green he was used to.

This land was too happy. The trees were lush but their leaves were in colors so vibrant they made Cyrus' eyes water, the water was a magenta color and smelled of flowers, and he could see pixie like creatures drifting through the air, passing by grazing unicorns with ivory white coats and cotton candy pink manes and tails.

Cyrus suddenly remembered what Garrett had warned him about, and drew his spear as one of the unicorns wandered towards him while searching for more of that blue grass to eat. When it saw him, it huffed before charging, horn gleaming purple in the sun.

His spear struck true, but this unicorn was clearly made of sturdier stuff than the average monster, and it shrugged it off before charging him again. When he finally killed the thing, he managed to harvest its horn, which was sharp enough to nick his finger on, and gleamed in the light. The pixies were less of an annoyance, and they burst into a golden dust that smelled faintly of sugar.

The caves were strange, the walls composed out of a strange, lustrous stone that reminded Cyrus of mother of pearl, and as he descended deeper into the underground he could see crystals growing from the rocks like moss, and when he snapped one of them off the wall, it glowed gently in his hand.

More than just the crystals glowed, and the caverns were filled with glowing slimes and bats, along with flickering humanoid figures that always seemed to be on the edge of his vision, forming streaks of hot pink. Occasionally, when he slew one of these creatures a strange, pinkish thing would appear in the air where it was slain, and the obsessive collector in him made him grab it.

Then he saw it, a massive chest, much larger than normal ones, a blueish body with purple trim, and Cyrus couldn't help but want to loot it, although first he carefully pulled out his upgraded handgun and fired at the chest, only for it to unhinge to reveal fangs and a vibrantly pink tongue that lolled out, before it lunged at him with tremendous speed. Dodging to the side, he watched as it slammed into the cave wall with enough force to crack it, sending shards of crystal bouncing throughout the cavern. It violently jumped again and again, allowing him to pepper it with shots from behind.

Then the creature seemed to close back in on itself, like a turtle entering its shell. Cyrus gave a tentative pistol shot, only to feel a bullet bouncing off his armor a few seconds later, although he had a feeling the bullet would leave a terrible bruise.

Cyrus wasn't foolish enough to turn his back and flee from the creature, so they had a silent standoff for a few moments before the mouth opened once more and it lunged. It was actually a fairly simple rhythm, switching between hiding inside the chest (was it some sort of shell, like an oddly shaped turtle?) and jumping towards him. Eventually, it shattered into pieces, revealing a collection of potions and a massive bow with a gem in the center, with the arms of the bow looking like wings.

Suddenly, Cyrus realized he had wondered into a cavern that had once been in the Corruption of Crimson but was somehow transformed into this strange, hallowed land. The cavern was dotted with demon altars, which he never really had a chance to use, but he had seen how they were practically invincible.

He pulled out the hammer that he had gained from the Wall of Flesh and looked it over. Was this really all he got for Garrett's death? A big hammer and a some saccharine sweet landscapes? Frustrated, Cyrus swung his hammer around in frustration, deciding to vent his frustration on the typically indestructible demon altars…. Only for one of them to shatter under his hammer, letting out a great gout of strange blue light before a ghost seemed to appear from where the altar once was. After dispatching the ghostly creature, Cyrus looked around to see dozens of the same altars scattered around…. Hm…

* * *

It felt very good to break things, and Cyrus felt a deep sense of satisfaction as the last of the altars was crushed under his hammer. Looking around, he saw strange deposits of ore that he was sure weren't there when he first entered the cavern, deposits in vibrant colors like dark blue, teal, and a brilliant sort of silver color. The latter two ores seemed too tough for his pickaxe to mine, but the dark blue ore chipped away easily enough and Cyrus grabbed as much as he could carry before going home.

The mysterious woman hadn't woken up yet and seemed to be having some terrible dreams, and while Cyrus wanted to stay by and wait for her to wake up the Nurse shooed him away, telling him that this one might take longer, and she showed signs of exhaustion. Cyrus shrugged, and got to work smelting the ore into bars, before making just a pickaxe and starting to mine again, hoping that maybe this pickaxe would work on the other ores.

The teal ore was the one that gave way this time, but when he was trying to shape the metal it nearly broke the anvil under it. He managed to form it into a rough anvil though, and made another pickaxe, and went to mine the silverish ore; however, it simply refused to melt or even become more malleable in the heat of his furnace. Maybe he needed one of the hellish furnaces to shape this metal?

He was met with a heaping helping of disappointment in Hell, but he decided to try some experimenting. He moved the furnace back home, and managed to apply some of the ore to furnace and considerably boost its heat resistance, and finally the silverish ore melted. Figuring that this was about as good as his gear could get in the short term, he began to work the silverish metal into a suit of armor. He also tinkered with the unicorn horns and pixie dust, and managed to create a set of arrows that gleamed brightly in his quiver, just as the sun began to set and the moon rose into the sky, thick and full.

As he fell asleep, he could hear howling from outside, as if great pack of wolves had found their town...

* * *

The first thing Cyrus noticed when walking outside was the great claw marks that covered the exterior of many of the houses. He would really need to get that wall finished, it clearly hadn't stopped whatever pack of creatures had come into the town. He almost tripped over something, and looked down to see a woman with a long tail and a pair of fox ears curled up on the grass.

"Excuse me, miss. Wake up." Cyrus knelt down next to the girl, and she opened her eyes, blinking groggily, before she sat up and nearly crashed into him.

"Why hello there, dude! I've got like, nooooo idea how I got here… but wouldja mind if I stayed for a while?"

"Sure. Need a hand?" He pulled her up, "What's your name?"

"My name is Veronica, and I'm a zoologist!"

* * *

Soon enough, the Wall of Flesh girl woke up, revealing eyes the exact color of Garrett's, although having someone around who looked just like him, but with boobs, didn't really make handling his loss any easier. Would she be like Garrett in personality?

"Goddamn, I'm thirsty. Hey you, grab me some water." Oh.

She drunk greedily from pitcher, spilling water on the sheets of the bed (Cyrus could feel Abigail steaming behind him) and when she finished she gave a long sigh, stretching her arms behind her head.

"So… what's your name, miss?"

"The full name's Andrea, but I will make you regret it if you don't call me Andi, clear?"

"Crystal."

* * *

Andi was… prickly, in stark contrast to Veronica, but they made the town feel a little less empty, so that was good. She also knew bits and pieces about all the strange happenings in the world, although it was nowhere near Garrett's extensive roadmap of how to progress. Cyrus asked her if she had any idea what the next big enemy might be, because they had no clue, and her response was something along the lines of "Tough shit, give it a few nights. Sometimes, the enemy will just come to you." accompanied by a shrug.

She may have been a little caustic, but that was nothing to her second, true talent: she was a professional shit-stirrer, and had an incredible ability to pick up the tensions in the group, that everyone was trying to avoid.

"So remind me, who's fucking who?" Cyrus choked on his dinner.

"Well, I wouldn't use that sort of language, but he's in a relationship with Medulla and I" Annelida said, her tail coiling as most of the visible eyes glared at Andi under the table.

"Come on, most of the women here are giving Cyrus goo-goo eyes when he's not looking. I refuse to believe the romantic chemistry here is that bad."

Cthylla flushed. "Hey, what do you mean by that?"

"Come on, I get one of the other girls objecting to that statement, but you? You can't keep your eyes off the man. You really are just a sentient eyeball, aren't you?"

* * *

"So, Andi, there was something I wanted to ask you, but I'm not sure how to put it…"

"You're wondering why I'm such a bitch?"

"Well I wouldn't put that way, but yes. You're just asking to get punched the way you're acting."

She gave him a smile that was nearly as fierce as her previous boss form. "Have you ever considered that maybe that's the end goal?" While Cyrus was trying to process that, she left. Was she some sort of mean masochist, who made people mad for explicit purpose of getting them angry enough to punish her? Of course, things could never, ever be normal when living in this world.

Sighing, Cyrus picked up his brand new bow and decided to head for a nice, long walk, maybe he could test out the bow and vent his frustration on some unsuspecting monster? As he left, he had a terrible sort of sinking feeling in his gut, the type he always seemed to feel before all the other major fights, and he knew tonight was going to be a terrible night.

* * *

The air was a strange mix of smells, at one moment the air was thick with the smell of something that had been burned, and the next inhale the air smelled strongly of iron, as if blood was seeping from a fresh wound. He found himself standing in the same clearing where he had faced Cthylla so long ago, and once again he could feel a terrible chill.

He looked up into the sky, and for a moment he thought someone was staring back at him, but the two eyes hanging in the sky were part of no face, and instead hung in the inky blackness of the sky alone, one with an iris the color of blood, and the other with an iris of a thoroughly unnatural green, too bright to be vegetation, but more like some sort of foul toxic waste. The two eyes seemed to be linked by some sort of flesh chord, and there was something off about them that Cyrus couldn't put his finger on. The whites of the eye seemed too bright, almost plastic-like, and the veins traveling up their sides seemed like they were painted on.

As the two eyes drifted in the air, Cyrus drew his bow and nocked an arrow, taking a step back and getting ready to run. Maybe he should have trusted his gut, because he knew this fight was going to be brutal, but at the very least it was away from the town.

Despite being attached to each other, the eyes each seemed to have different plans of attack, but they both began their assault in perfect sync, spewing lasers and balls of a horrible green fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! The idea of the mean masochist was taken from Helltaker (very fun free game, check it out). The guide quote about death being like major changes was basically inspired by the Jurassic Park book. Title is a line from a poem called Kubla Khan, and I think it's a marvelous description of the Hallow. Savage, holy, and enchanted.


	8. Who Watches the Watchers?

The green eye charged straight at him while the red one strafed him, bombarding him with lasers from above. As Cyrus dodged and weaved around them, he couldn't help but feel that there was something terribly wrong with these creatures, in the unnaturally smooth way they moved. Of course, while all of the other boss creatures he had fought were brutally efficient in trying to eviscerate him, they moved like living (or unliving, in Lacrima's case?) creatures but this pair of eyes moved with mechanical efficiency.

The green one seemed determined to try to slam into him when it wasn't generating balls of green fire from its iris, and as it roared by him with all the speed and mass of a train the air reeked of ozone, like he was fighting in the midst of a thunderstorm. The two eyes were a terribly good team, Cyrus had to admit, and it seemed like they were only getting better, his dodges of the green eye sending him into the path of the red eye's lasers, which he couldn't always dodge.

His new armor proved strong enough to hold up, although some of the finer detailing he had made had already started to melt under the fierce assault of lasers and flame. Damn, he had worked hard on that! Of course, he was working much harder to survive right now.

Carefully aiming, he fired an arrow at one of the eyes, only for it to go soaring into the sky. Okay, what the hell? Before he could start to panic, the arrow slammed down into the earth that the eye was hovering over moments before, burying itself deep in the dirt, down to the fletching. With a shrieking sound, like something going through the air too fast, a star struck the ground next to it.

Of course, the twin eyes weren't just going to let him test him weapons out, and he jumped as high as he could to avoid a particularly massive gout of flame. Before he could let out a sigh of relief at not being charbroiled, he felt the air get knocked out of his lungs as the two eyes moved in perfect sync to clothesline him on the chord connecting them, and they tried to entangle him in the thing before managed to escape.

He slammed into the ground, panting, and broke into a sprint while firing arrows from his bow, a terrible cacophony of shrieking and a sound almost like rain on metal as dozens of arrows struck true. Weaving through the forest didn't turn out to be too good of an idea, as the eyes were more than capable of slamming through the trees like a pair of wrecking balls, and it also limited the power of his bow, as arrows and stars struck trees instead of the enemy.

It was harder to fight the creatures once he had to keep track of the chord between them as well as the two actual eyes, but there was a sort of pattern to their attacks, predictable rhythms that let him catch his breath and bombard them with arrows between furious attacks. Finally, he seemed to reach a turning point with the green one, and like his fight with the first eye so long ago, it seemed to start changing physically. However, this time, the entire eye seemed to loose a layer, two great semi-spherical shells that sunk deep into the soil after falling away from the eye.

It became clear now the eye was in fact some sort of complex machine, the metallic skin reflecting the light of the moon as a mouth full of saber like teeth let out a deafening roar. Inside the thing's gullet he could see buzzing saws, and he knew that even his new armor wouldn't save him from getting tenderized by that thing if it could catch him in its mouth.

It let loose a great column of green flame that burnt away the grass to ash, and Cyrus leapt back as the green eye doused everything in front of it with that terrible flame. The eye seemed to get more aggressive after its transformation, but Cyrus had adapted to its patterns the fight seemed to return to normal, other than the occasional bout of flamethrowing from the no longer green eye.

As the eye incinerated more and more perfectly good forest, Cyrus suddenly had an idea, and went back to dodging while waiting for it to cycle through the behavior pattern it seemed to have. It charged at him, again and again, but when it reared up to send more fire at him, Cyrus jumped between it and the other eye, idly noting that he could see a little pilot light inside the machine's maw.

He fell out of the flame's way, but the red eye did not, and it let out a shrill sound like an alarm as the green flames licked its sides, its outer shell burning away and filling the air with the acrid smell of chemicals. This eye didn't have a mouth, but a trapdoor or hatch of some kind opened up where its eye once was, and a massive laser gun of some kind came out.

The lasers were certainly a lot more intense now, but they were still very predictable overall, and Cyrus chipped away at them without taking too much damage, although his breath still felt shallow and he could feel burns where the flames got too close and heated his armor.

Finally, one of the eyes succumbed, and with a terrible metallic sound the eye that shot lasers crumbled into pieces, sending massive chunks of shining metal flying away as a girl fell from where the eye's center would be. Cyrus groaned. Of course, things could never be easy, could they?

He caught the girl and was forced to put away his bow and fight the other remaining eye with just his pistol, as much as his arm ached from the incredible recoil of the weapon. Fighting with a girl in his arms was a lot less glamorous than it seemed, but there was no way he was going to drop her as he fought the other eye, running to avoid the great bursts of flame that baked the ground.

Just as he began to worry that he was going to run out of ammunition, the other eye fell apart in a similar fashion to the first, and he threw his pistol to the ground as he somehow managed to catch the second girl, and now that both of them were next to each other he could see just how similar they were.

They looked remarkable similar to Cthylla, now that he thought about it, to the point that they could pass as triplets, with the same black hair cut short and very similar builds, although (and Cyrus would never say this to their faces when they woke up) they did weigh a bit more than Cthylla did, even with the help of accessories and armor that boosted his strength.

* * *

"Hey guys, guess who I found?" Cyrus carefully pushed the door open, trying his hardest with his arms quite full.

Abigail sighed. "Where do they keep coming from, Cyrus?"

"That's the million gold question, isn't it?"

Cthylla seemed especially interested. "Wow, they look just like me! What sort of creatures were they before, you know…"

'They were a lot like you in their monster form too, Cthylla. Two massive eyes, one red and one green, although they were actually mechanical."

The woman they found in the dungeon, Meredith, perked up. "A mechanical creature? Like a robot?"

"I think so. They had natural looking shells, but they were made of metal under the surface. Instead of dissolving like most of the big enemies do, they collapsed into scrap."

Her eyes seemed to glow in the torchlight. "Scrap? Could I go out and get some?"

"I suppose you could get some tomorrow? It's cluttering up the clearing so go right ahead." She was already out the door by Cyrus finished talking. "It's really late, you know!"

* * *

Everyone had fallen into a sort of routine regarding the new arrivals that came every time Cyrus fought a major enemy, and even if there were two of them this time it didn't change much. Abigail tsk'd at him as she dressed his wounds, even if it wasn't quite as bad as usual (or maybe Cyrus was just getting used to getting mauled, which was definitely a concerning possibility).

Meredith had fallen asleep after spending all night hauling in robot parts from the thoroughly scorched boss clearing, and Cyrus carefully moved her to her bed while trying not to aggravate his burns. However, over about half a night she managed to haul in huge piles of a strange gleaming metal that seemed to shift between silver and gold depending on what angle you looked at it from. She also bottled a strange bundle of green energy that looked a lot like the pink things from the underground Hallow.

Cyrus decided to wait around and greet the new arrivals when they awoke, but before the two girls stirred Cthylla called him down. "Someone new has shown up!"

Someone new had shown up, a rather tall woman who was dressed in an… interesting style. A massive green top hat that only made her seem taller, and Cyrus' brain immediately provided the word steampunk, even if memories of what the hell a steampunk even is was apparently too much for his mind.

"Greetings, good sir! Would you happen to be the proprietor of this establishment? I wish to inquire about residence in your community."

"Sure, you can stay. What's your name, miss?"

She gave a broad smile. "My name is Judith, and I must say, it's an absolute pleasure."

Before he could reply, he heard Abigail shouting downstairs that the two mysterious girls were waking up, and with a quick "Excuse me, ma'am" he was rushing up the stairs.

* * *

Both of the girls stirred from their rests at the same time, and Cyrus could see that the one area where their appearances didn't match was their eyes, one girl with eyes the color of fresh cut grass and the other with eyes like roses. Admittedly, Cyrus might have gotten the two girls mixed up overnight, but it became very clear which girl came from which eye.

Thinking ahead, Cyrus already had two pitchers of water on hand, and both girls drank rapidly. Once they had finished drinking, Cyrus indulged his curiosity. "So, what are you names, if I could ask? I'm Cyrus and the woman who nursed you is Abigail."

The green eyed one spoke up first, "My name is Asta, and my twin's name is Tina."

* * *

The Twins proved well enough to eat dinner with them, and everyone decided to make something of an event out of it by having a bonfire. Of course, it was very easy for Cyrus to collect all the wood they would ever need for a fire, but it seemed that he ran out of gel, and although the lack of slimes Visca caused certainly made day to day life less annoying it made getting gel a day trip. Maybe he could ask Visca for some slime, but his brain told him that was probably a bad idea.

"Do you need assistance, sir?" Cyrus nearly jumped when he realized Asta had snuck up on him and was crouching next to him in front of the unlit bonfire. After calming his breathing, he responded.

"Please don't call me sir. Cyrus is fine. I just don't have any gel to really get a fire going."

"A fire, you say?"

"Yeah. A nice big bonfire, and maybe a smaller one for cooking. Of course, the plan goes down the drain if we don't have any fire."

Asta gave him a small smile. "I can help with that." She held up her palm to the massive pile of lumber, and before Cyrus could ask what she was doing, a sort of hole opened up in her palm, and he heard faint clicking, like a lighter, before a burst of green flame sprung forth, catching on the wood almost instantly. Cyrus jumped back, pulling Asta with him, as the green flames leapt up the pile of wood before shifting into a less aggressive form that was a more normal orange color.

"What was that, exactly?"

Asta gave a shrug. "A lighter." Now that he knew what to look for, he could see clearly that her right arm was actually artificial, although even a layman like Cyrus could tell it was a masterwork of prosthetics. The seams were beautifully hidden and the connection to the real body about halfway up the bicep was almost invisible, to the point Cyrus would have never noticed it if he wasn't looking for it.

"I barely even noticed you had a prosthetic!"

"Well, isn't that the end goal of the perfect prosthetic? Unless you want other fun gadgets attached, I suppose."

* * *

With their fire starting problem handled, the bonfire and dinner turned out very well, and while fighting the boss monsters was definitely a struggle, moments like this made it worth it, Cyrus thought.

Bea was performing her culinary magic as usual, while Asta, Tina, and Cthylla chattered away over some subject Cyrus couldn't fully catch. Optometry, maybe? Annelida and Medulla were right next to him, simply enjoying each other's company. Visca seemed to be dictating the specifics of her regalia to Lacrima, who was nodding along absentmindedly while watching Andi valiantly attempting to get a rise out of Nissa, who remained stoic.

Once the food had finished cooking, everyone dug in with gusto, although Cyrus was a little transfixed by Veronica, who ate like she was starving. "Uhh, you ok there Veronica? You want seconds?"

"Seconds would be great, dude. My older bro says that I have like, an increased metabolism. Fancy way of saying I need to eat more food. But more space is for food is pretty rad, honestly."

Had they been underfeeding her this entire time? Had they been underfeeding everyone this entire time? Cyrus figured that several extra feet of tail might be a bit of a drain, on a dietary level. He turned to ask Annelida before she gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Don't worry, it's fine. I eat as much as a normal person, but I could eat a lot more if I want."

Cyrus was still a little surprised, knowing that even though life had gotten routine recently, these girls were still inherently supernatural. Maybe he just couldn't help it, but a pretty face caught his attention a lot more than a tail or something would.

Looking around, Cyrus suddenly noticed that Lacrima's long gloves were a little stained, and now that he thought about it Cyrus realized that she had never show anyone her bare hands, at least as far as he knew. He began to whisper to Annelida and Medulla. "Say, have you ever seen Lacrima's hands? I've literally never seen her without a pair of gloves."

Medulla stroked her chin contemplatively. "Now that I think about it, no. It might be personal, so we should be sensitive and let her decide to tell us when she feels like she's ready."

Suddenly, Andi spoke up from behind them, and Cyrus groaned. "Hey Lacrima, what do you have under those gloves there?"

Lacrima looked up. "Oh, I've never shown you? I guess I haven't. Promise not to freak out, okay?"

Cyrus gave a nod, and leaned forward a little in curiosity. Lacrima pulled off her gloves to reveal bones, as if she simply didn't have muscle or skin past her shoulders. There was a strange sort of ghostly energy surrounding her hands, which Cyrus supposed gave shape to the gloves.

"Wow."

"It's not as much of an inconvenience as you'd think, actually. The magic lets me do all the same stuff a normal arm could, while it also means I don't feel anything if I prick myself with a needle or whatever."

"It works just like a normal hand?"

"Yep! It even feels like one." She placed her hand oh his cheek, and it certainly felt as warm as a real hand even if he could practically see through it. Cyrus began to flush before Annelida pried Lacrima's hand off of his face.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Lacrima gave a shrug and a knowing grin. "Showing Cyrus that my hands work just like the real deal. I'm sorry, did I offend you?" She looked completely unrepentant.

Annelida's brow furrowed before she scooted over, pressing close to Cyrus' side as Medulla pressed in from the other side. Yes, fighting boss monsters was definitely worth it.

* * *

The next day was yet another one of idle relaxation, although no one was really urging Cyrus to go out and pick another fight again. Wandering around, Cyrus couldn't help but notice Visca, who seemed to be in a state of deep contemplation as she idly stroked a little pink slime in her lap.

"Hey Visca!"

"Cyrus, hello." She moved over a little, giving him room to sit.

"I was thinking about what you said when you first got here Visca, about the Queen of Slimes. Do you know anything more about her?"

Visca huffed and looked away. "Of course you come to talk with me about her, it's always about the Queen of the Slimes and never the King! She never gets shit for being a woman, but everyone's alway's like 'King Slime? But you're clearly a lady' like I'm somehow unaware of the fact!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you angry."

Visca sighed and rearranged her hair (Cyrus wondered if there was a technical difference between the slime composing her hair and the slime composing her hand, other than color) before shrugging. "It's fine, Cyrus dear. I just get irked that everyone seems to judge me more harshly than her."

"Dear?"

The slime girl's face went from being a translucent blue to a more opaque purple. "Shut up!"

* * *

Cyrus had taken to expanding the town slowly after each major fight instead of waiting until they were just about out of space. It gave him something to do in that key period between his recovery from getting mauled and when he was ready for his next mauling.

While he usually wasn't the sort of guy to flatter himself, he did think that he had grown into a better architect as opposed to the half-buried box he made on the first day of his journey here. Thinking back on that first day, Cyrus suddenly realized that it was colder today than it was then, and decided to go ask Lacrima if she could start making him a coat or something. Maybe he could make her a place to work on that sort of thing? It's not like they were lacking for space.

Quite a few more days passed by without much trouble, although Cyrus did make sure to take the occasional trip into the underground or some other far flung biome to keep his skills sharp and to get more materials to fiddle with. Judith and Meredith were still tinkering with the scraps of the Twin Eyes, trying to reforge them into a suit of armor and maybe tools for mining, although Cyrus gathered that the latter wasn't going too well. Curiously, while exploring the underground Hallow he found a strange sort of crystal, one that had the consistency of gelatin, and he decided to keep it.

Whatever change in seasons Cyrus had noticed had truly started in earnest, and the leaves began to grow red, orange, and brown in truly vibrant colors. Now with a ticking clock over their heads everyone had started working in a frenzy, Lacrima taking some of the others under her wing in a rush to produce winter clothing. Food never really was an issue most of the time, but they started stockpiling anyways.

With the passage of time another full moon was fast approaching, and Abigail and Medulla became increasingly convinced that Veronica was a were-creature of some kind, and that they would attack in droves again, perhaps every lunar cycle. Just to be safe, they set a room aside in case Veronica was a little too wild during the full moon, although she seemed so relaxed all the time Cyrus wondered if she really had all those wild animal instincts lurking beneath the surface, or if she just had the surface level ears and tail. (Which were very real, despite all the "testing" tugs that Andi gave them)

Cyrus couldn't really complain about the cold weather when it meant that he had an excuse (well, more of an excuse) for cuddling with Annelida and Medulla. The whole tail thing was actually very neat once you got used to it.

* * *

The notebook Garrett left behind really was full of useful information, even if it did make Cyrus want to cry every time he looked at it, and he and Medulla were discussing a part of it in their room once Annelida walked (slithered?) in, Cthylla in tow.

"Hello, was there something that you needed?" Cthylla definitely wasn't the most talkative person in the village, but she was dead silent now and flushed a deep red. Annelida's gave her a quick poke with her tail.

"Well, come on. You worked up the courage to say it to me, didn't you? You can say it to them as well."

Cthylla nodded, pressing her index fingers together in a way that seemed to indicate nervousness (although Cyrus had never seen anyone else do that before. Of course, his brain seemed to provide him with a lot of examples of stuff that he couldn't really remember when he thought about it) before she spoke, stumbling over her words. "Well, I… I'd like to… to join your little group!"

"Group? I mean, you do understand this a romance thing, right?"

"Of course I do! I'm just not going to go out and say 'can I join your menage a trois, please? Make it a household of four?'"

"Didn't you just say that?"

"That's not the point and you know it!"

Before their argument could continue, Medulla stepped in. "That's not the important thing here, is it? Cthylla wants to join our relationship, and I assume that you're fine with it Annelida, considering how you brought her here?" She was answered with an enthusiastic nod. "I'm fine with it as well, so what do you think Cyrus?"

"What?"

"Well, we're not just going to add someone to the relationship without making sure everyone involved was happy with it. Do you want to invite her or not? If you're not…"

Cyrus couldn't believe this was actually happening to him. "Yes. Definitely, definitely yes." Was this a dream?

The hug Cthylla gave him certainly didn't feel like a dream, it felt very real. She had clambered into his lap, and Cyrus' mind was suddenly focused on anything but Garrett's notebook.

Annelida gave him a playful shove. "Well come on, scoot over! We're going to have to squeeze to fit all four of us on this couch. Maybe you'll need to build a new one, Cyrus."

* * *

Of course, everyone had learned about the newest addition to Cyrus' little group (his mind helpfully provided the word harem, but he refused to call it that) over dinner, and Cthylla was quickly caught up in a conversation with some of the other girls while Cyrus valiantly tried to eat his as much of his food as he could before someone got the bright idea of feeding him again.

After a few moments of whispering, Bea let out a load groan. "You mean all I had to do was ask?" Before Cyrus could really start processing the consequences of that statement, Judith burst into the room.

"You're late. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing at all! In fact, things are going very well. Meredith and I cooked this up for you." She gave him a heavy machine with a pair of straps attached to one side.

"Is this some sort of backpack?"

Judith's eyes gleamed in the torchlight. "Not a backpack. A _jetpack_."

A jetpack? Cyrus had to test this out, and it made a much better excuse than usual to bail out of dinner before things got too awkward. Some fresh air could only make his good mood better, Cyrus figured.

* * *

Once he had managed to disentangle himself from dinner, he took a walk outside to test his new jetpack, and it worked wonderfully. It really cut down on the time to get the boss arena, and the wide open area gave him a lot of space to practice all sorts of maneuvers he had seen Bea manage when she felt like showing off.

When he stopped to take a quick rest to let the jetpack cool a little, he suddenly realized how chilly it was. It was nowhere near this chilly last night, but the air kept getting colder around him. Oh, it was going to be one of those nights, wasn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the gap between updates. I decided to include a little character register in case anyone hasn't read in a while. I had considered some sort of Halloween episode, but… yeah. Hopefully, I should be able to get to the Frost Moon by Christmas, and Santa outfits are always fun. Review if you have any criticism/feedback.


	9. A Prime Slime

The air was getting unbearably cold now, his breath was turning into mist every time he exhaled. Faintly, in the distance, he could see the characteristic sheen of metal of metal in the distance, reflecting the light of the moon, and two tiny red lights, like warning lights almost, but they were approaching him rapidly.

As it got closer to the blasted circle of land that served as the arena, its features became more clear, and unlike the twin eyes he had fought previously, this creature was obviously mechanical, although seemingly magical as well. Four long metallic arms, each ended by some tortuous tool, trailed behind a chrome skull that glared at him with glowing red eyes. It seemed like this creature was a counterpart to the great skeletal guardian of the dungeons, although a strange, unearthly metal had replaced the bones.

As soon was it was close enough, the mechanical monstrosity lashed out with a saw, and Cyrus leapt to the side as the saw sunk into the earth behind him, sending the dirt flying into the air. For now at least, the machine seemed to be moving in a clunky fashion, and an arm with a vice attached to the end seemed to crash into the saw arm with a tremendous clang. Perhaps the machines grew more intelligent over time? It took a while for the twin eyes to start using that chord against him, but Cyrus decided not to wait up and began firing his bow, letting a rain of arrows fall from the sky.

Two of the arms seemed to be close range weapons, a sort of pincer or vice and a saw, while two of the arms were meant for long range, with a laser and a cannon that sent bombs flying through the air. The bombs would explode into a spray of shrapnel whenever they hit the ground, which made dodging difficult. Despite all of his efforts, the arms proved themselves to be practically invincible, and Cyrus decided to focus on the skull and the tools that replaced the creature's hands, which froze for a moment before its eyes flared and it sprouted great metal spikes, almost like a bad hair-do.

The skull let out a strange robotic bellow, mechanical yet oddly human, and started spinning towards him, the light of the moon and the creature's red eyes reflecting wildly off its arms and skull. The arms seemed to move independently of the crazily spinning head, and attacked with a vengeance as Cyrus beat a panicked retreat. The bombs were fired more randomly now, and seemed to have random triggers, making avoiding shrapnel a matter of luck.

The jetpack added a new dimension to the fight, and while Cyrus could certainly jump high before, he imagined that he would have been split in two by the saw if not for the device. All the while, the mechanical monster seemed to get more and more efficient, its attacks starting to box him in ways that would have been utterly unavoidable without his jetpack. Landing a lucky blow on the saw, the entire arm seemed to collapse in on itself at once, splintering into pieces as the saw itself went flying wildly, nearly toppling a tree as it landed.

With one arm lost, the other three tried to make up the slack by increasing their attack speed, and Cyrus found the bombs to be the most difficult, as even keeping high above the ground wouldn't prevent the bursting shells from sending sprays of metal into the air, and sometimes Cyrus would have to contort himself to keep the bits of metal from hitting his jetpack- it may have hurt, but not being able to fly would hurt a lot worse.

Cyrus decided to focus on the cannon next, which exchanged fire with Cyrus as he bombarded it with every arrow he had. He was so focused on hitting the cannon he didn't notice the grabber arm until it crushed around his waist with a horrible cracking sound before shaking him vigorously and throwing him into a tree. He could barely stand up after that one, and he had to sprint to get out of the way of the head, which tore through the tree like a wrecking ball.

He could taste copper in his mouth, and he was certain it wasn't just due to the stench of metal and oil in the air. Was he going to get injured like this in every fight? Shaking his head, Cyrus kept on firing his arrows, although he was very sure to keep his distance and know exactly where each arm was at any moment. After dozens of arrows, the bomb arm finally gave way, exploding into dozens of metal shards as the creature shrieked in something that might have been pain.

Even if the head only had two arms now, with a laser and that damned vice, it wasn't any less dangerous. The lasers fired in an almost nonstop stream, and the vice hand started to grab and throw entire trees whenever Cyrus ran too close to the trees. Strangely enough, despite the fact that the skull had a truly vicious looking mouth, it hadn't tried to bite him, at least not yet, and just tried to crash into him, not that either option wouldn't be very painful.

The vice arm flew into the air mere moments after the laser shooting arm vanished in a flash of brilliant red light that had Cyrus blinking for a few seconds, and when his vision recovered enough to see a silver blur racing towards him, he barely dodged out of the way, one of the metal spikes crashing into his stomach like a bat before tearing a cut from his navel to the side of his chest, sending blood flying. Cyrus was already feeling dizzy, and he was stumbling as he sprinted away from the wildly spinning skull, and it was moving so fast his arrows could barely hit the thing.

Cyrus noticed that every time he dodged out of the way, the head seemed to take a few seconds to turn, and he had another one of his remarkably stupid ideas. When the skull came in for another charge, he dodged to the side and then ran to circle it, leading to a scenario that was remarkably similar to a dog chasing its own tail, although Cyrus suspected that if the mechanical creature caught him, he wouldn't get off with a nibbling.

Cyrus started to fire his bow, and now that he and the skull were basically orbiting around one spot, it proved incredibly effective, dozens of arrows striking the skull- as well as him. Cyrus had never tried his weapons on himself, for obvious reasons, but while the arrows hurt as they pelted him, there was a terrible sort of beauty to his holy arrows. With so many arrows coming down in one place, it was as if the sky was being emptied of stars as what felt like hundreds of them fell from the sky, filling the clearing with starlight.

Finally, the skull seemed to catch on to Cyrus' trick, roaring before soaring away and circling to charge him, and Cyrus answered by pouring down dozens of arrows in its path, and just before he was going to dodge away, the skull seemed to fly apart into two separate metal pieces, although something vaguely human shaped was flying towards Cyrus-

Suddenly Cyrus was tumbling backwards, something, no, someone laying on top of him and something soft in his face. Gingerly lifting himself up, he found himself under the, uh…. significant chest of another pretty girl. She had long hair, like silver, patterned into a braid, and was wearing a very classy suit in gunmetal gray, although the suit was modified to allow a pair of beautifully crafted metal arms that seemed seemed to be attached to her torso a little below and behind her normal arms, which were actually just a pair of prosthetics as well, although located where arms would normally be and convincing enough to pass for the genuine article.

He was almost going to walk her home, before he coughed into his elbow and saw blood on the staining the joints of his dented and cracked armor. He pulled out his magic mirror and warped home while he still could, the sharply dressed young woman he had just collided with in tow.

* * *

Cyrus woke up to the timber roof of what had eventually become the sickroom, and the air was filled with a sweet sort of smell, part of it coming from the healing potions that Abigail was so good at brewing, and partially due to a vase of bright red flowers set nearby his bed. Looking around, he seemed to be unattended, which was certainly a surprise given how much time Abigail spent nursing her patients, and he attempted to get up before he felt a great shooting pain in his ribs which practically forced him back down.

Trying not to aggravate his injury, he turned his head to see if the mechanical girl from last night was still in the hospital or if he managed to sleep through her awakening. Sure enough, his injuries weren't bad enough that he out-slept the girl, whose eyes were still closed in sleep. She was definitely beautiful, as beautiful as all of the other girls… Cyrus slapped himself as much as he could while bound to a bed and reminded himself that he was a taken man. After spending a little while contemplating just how lucky he was, Cyrus turned his head when he heard the door opening, to see Abigail walking in, a basket on her arm.

"Oh, Cyrus. You're awake. We've gone through the whole spiel about getting yourself hurt before, and while I'm certainly angry I can't work myself up into a frenzy about it. I'll leave that to your little harem."

"It's not a-" Cyrus started to sit up before another burst of pain shot through his torso.

"Yes it is, and please stop trying to sit up, for your own good." Abigail sighed before fishing a sandwich out of the basket. "I know it's frustrating, but it looks like another long rest for you."

Cyrus groaned, but before Abigail could respond they heard a gasping inhale from the third occupant of the Rome, who was looking around in confusion. "Where am I?" she murmured, sitting up and stretching with all four arms.

Abigail rushed over to her other, possibly less idiotic patient, and responded. "You're in… well we don't have a proper name for it, but our little town. You're staying in what passes for a hospital now. I'm Abigail," she said, before gesturing over to him "and the man in the bed next to you is Cyrus."

The girl was silent for a moment. "My name is Francisca, and it's a pleasure to meet you both. If you could tell me, who was the warrior who defeated me in battle?"

Cyrus replied. "That would be me. You aren't mad or anything, are you?" He was half expecting one of her arms to turn into a gun or something, but instead she plopped herself down onto a stool next to his bed.

"Uhm, what exactly are you doing?"

"I'm going to tend to you."

"Tend to me?"

"Is that not what I said? You saved me from my previous form, the least I can do to repay you in kind is protect you from whatever may attempt to harm you, especially while you're still recovering."

* * *

Francisca was a welcome addition to the group, even if she stuck a little too close to Cyrus for just about everyone's comfort, including Cyrus himself. Despite the classy appearance her suit gave her, it seemed that she missed out on some of the finer social graces the other girls gained when they got their human forms. As it turned out, even if a chainsaw was more efficient at cutting meat than a knife is, that did not make it appropriate for the dining table.

She certainly seemed helpful, and Cyrus managed to convince her to spend her time helping Judith and Meredith salvage the remains of the boss and work the metal into armor that would serve suitable replacements for the set that Francisca had destroyed in her previous form.

At dinner a few days after Francisca's arrival, whatever restrictions kept Andi from mocking the new girls collapsed, and she decided to aim for the newest possible target.

"So, Francisca, you're 'tending' to Cyrus now?"

"Yes, although I do not understand why you choose to emphasize the word tending."

"Are you sure there isn't anything more too it than that?"

Francisca's head tilted in apparent confusion. "What would you be implying, Miss Andrea?"

"First off, it's Andi, not Andrea, but are you sure you aren't tending to his, ahh, physical needs, if you catch my drift?"

"The drift is not caught, Miss Andi. I suppose if Cyrus was hungry or thirsty, I would endeavor to alleviate such conditions."

Andi groaned.

* * *

Once Abigail had cleared Cyrus to start taking walks outside and the like, he began to explore some parts of the world that he hadn't gotten around to before, with Francisca in tow. The land around the village eventually grew rather hilly in the distance, and there were even a few mountains towering above the horizon in every direction, although Cyrus tended to go around them, tracing the valleys to find strange new lands. The nearest mountains were deep within the snow biome, and was actually a relatively quick walk, even if Cyrus had to take it slow.

Cyrus was glad that they had Lacrima around, as he was sure that without the thick clothes covering his armor he would be freezing everywhere and not just around his face, where he peaked out of his hood. Cyrus turned to Francisca, who had refused a coat from Lacrima, although she appeared completely unaffected by the chill. "Are you alright? It's not too cold for you, is it?"

Francisca smiled. "Not at all," and with a sort of clanking sound, the lower pair of arms, the more artificial looking ones, opened to reveal heating elements glowing orange where bones would be in a normal arm, making the air shimmer with heat as any snowflakes that landed on them evaporated in moments. "In fact, would you like me to-"

"No thanks!" Cyrus very much liked his skin unburnt, thank you very much. The snow really was coming down heavily though, and Cyrus idly wondered if it was raining back home. He was snapped out of his musings when he saw a towering silhouette in the distance, and he drew his bow, which was already dusted in snow.

However, before he could nock an arrow Francisca held out an arm to stop him. "You're still injured, aren't you? I will handle this."

It turned out that Francisca could indeed handle it, and Cyrus was still cringing as her upper left arm shifted back into its normal form after eviscerating the enemy with a chainsaw. He felt sorry for the poor thing, especially considering its humanoid shape, and the echoing cries it gave off when it was chainsaw-ed.

Sifting through the icy blue rubble, Cyrus managed to find a strange sort of core where a human's heart might be- although while the heart pumped warm blood, this frozen core was so frigid that the icy chill was already making his hands numb even after holding it for a few seconds, although that wasn't the strangest thing inside the crumbling remains. Cyrus carefully pulled a feather out and held it up to look at it, the sun shining through the translucent blue and white barbs of the feather, and it was so delicate that Cyrus was honestly surprised it hadn't even chipped.

At the very least, the heavy blizzard had seemed to clear, and they made their way to the closest mountain, marching up its shallow side through thick snow, weaving between towering evergreens whose branches dipped under the weight of snow. Eventually, they reached the top as the sun began to get low in the sky, and were treated to an amazing sight.

The top of the volcano was a crater with steep sides that dove down to a great lake, smooth as glass but not frozen like so many of the other lakes in the snow biome, and it reflect the steep stone sides of the crater, the snow covering the rim, and the gray clouds filling the sky. Carefully pulling a rope from his pack, he threw one end into the water, got Francisca to hold it (he figured she was strong enough to rappel from, honestly) he began to slowly rappel his way down the crater's side.

Soon enough he was just feet above the water's surface, and while it wasn't boiling or anything, Cyrus wasn't enough of a dumbass to just drop in. Looking close, Cyrus couldn't see any bubbles at all, and so he cautiously dipped a gloved finger in, only for it to be downright pleasant, if warmer than room temperature.

Clambering back up the sides of the the crater, he managed to get back to the top and took a break to catch his breath- it wasn't the most tiring thing he had ever done, but Abigail had stressed caution, and rappelling was probably pushing it.

It was certainly interesting, and Cyrus knew that hot water could do a lot for aching muscles, not that it was easy to heat up a massive amount of bath water at home. Grabbing onto Francisca's arm, he pulled out the magic mirror and teleported them both home, the crater and the snow vanishing in a flash of bluish light.

* * *

Cyrus casually dropped the discovery of the crater hot spring over dinner, and while Annelida seemed interested (maybe because of the tail? Cyrus couldn't imagine it fitting into a bathtub) no one else did, until Harold spoke up. Honestly, the merchant surprised Cyrus, and he almost felt bad for forgetting him- although perhaps he would accept the excuse of being distracted by cute girls?

"I've heard from some of my contacts that such springs are very popular, good for the skin and for your health. Very popular with couples, or so I've heard." Just about that point, everyone got a lot more interested. "In fact, if you're interested, I have some materials and documents about the construction of these hot springs." The expressions Cyrus was being given told him that he really didn't have a choice, but in all honesty, having somewhere like that to recover the next time he got his ass kicked sounded nice.

* * *

Soon enough Cyrus returned to the icy biome, although he was nearly blinded by the sun reflecting off the great snow banks. It was definitely nice to build something completely different from usual, and after a few day's work he had created a house near the hot spring, carved into the sides of the crater and connected to the outside by a tunnel, just because rappelling up a cliff wall after every bath sounded tiring and counterproductive, not to mention that being covered in water while outside in the snow was a bad thing.

Harold told him that the building was a perfect fit for the "oriental style", whatever that was, and soon enough most everyone was there, although Harold had decided to pass, muttering comments about "not cockblocking my boy" that Cyrus really didn't want to contemplate. Judith the steampunker had even hooked up some sort of teleportation system, so the hot springs were only a lever pull away from the main village and vice versa.

* * *

As everyone got ready, Cyrus finally realized the implications of sharing a hotspring, and decided that maybe he would spend the night doing something else- it was certainly nice outside, and the moon shone beautifully in the inky sky, reflecting over a hundred thousand frozen pine needles. Cyrus didn't expect company, but he turned to see Visca next to him, and she looked rather down.

"What's the matter, Visca?" She sighed, sending a strand of the slime that formed her hair dancing in the air.

"I can't go and bathe in the hotsprings, that's the problem!"

"I mean, why not?"

She rolled her eyes (how did slime eyes work?) and went inside for a few moments before coming out with a bottle of some beverage. Whatever flavor or variety it was, Cyrus wasn't entirely sure, but he knew that it was one of the many drinks that Harold was so insistent on selling- if he didn't have a magical ability to get all sorts of exotic goods he would have been kicked out for hawking.

Before he could ask what exactly she intended to do with said drink, she opened it and dipped one of her fingers into it, and when she lifted her finger from the surface of the liquid he realized that any of the slime that had gone under simply dissolved into the beverage.

"Are you okay?" Cyrus asked, starting to panic.

Visca gave a dismissive wave of her hand, although his eyes were still locked on the place where the tip of her finger used to be. "Yeah. I can still kind of feel it, in the drink." She started drinking, and to his amazement the finger started to slowly grow back, the process finally finishing when the very last drop vanished into her mouth. "Ahhh." she let out a relaxed sigh, although Cyrus couldn't believe she was so calm.

"So you just… dissolve in liquids?"

"Unfortunately. I mean I don't think it'll kill me or anything, but you'd have to filter an entire lake to get me back to normal."

Cyrus looked towards the empty glass. "I'm really sorry that everyone's excluding you, Visca."

"Well, not everyone." She gave him a smile, and there was something very beautiful about her in the moonlight, giving her a sort of ethereal look. She leaned against his side, and despite the coldness of the air Cyrus felt tremendously warm.

* * *

The next day, Visca and Francisca decided to accompany him as he went on a trip to the Hallow, in large part to restock his stock of holy arrows by collecting more pixie dust and unicorn horns. The land was just as sweet and happy as it was the first time he visited, although his mood was brighter. He still missed Garrett, but he was the sort of guy who wouldn't have wanted Cyrus to waste time grieving, not when there was so much to do.

However, the moment they entered the Hallow, Cyrus felt a strange vibration in his pack, and opening it he saw the strange gelatinous crystal that he had picked up in the underground Hallow a while back.

Visca leaned over and looked at it. "What's that, Cyrus? It's sort of slime like, almost."

"It's some sort of gelatin, I think. I found it in the underground Hallow, but it just sat in my bag until now. Actually, thinking about it, it got hard as rock while outside of the Hallow, but now it's all malleable." Cyrus gave it an experimental squeeze, and it was like he had popped a water balloon- a sort of pink slime flowed from his fingers and landed on the ground, rapidly growing.

The three of them jumped back as a massive pink-purple slime took shape in front of them, a little crystal in the center growing massive, easily taller than Cyrus. A sparkling silver crown took shape, gleaming with pink gems, and Cyrus suddenly realized who they were facing. "Is this the Queen Slime you were talking about?"

Visca was about as pale as a being composed of slime could get, and while she didn't answer, her nod confirmed Cyrus' fears. He drew his bow and began emptying his rapidly dwindling quiver on the enemy as the slime leapt into the sky.

They scattered as the Queen Slime landed, and as Cyrus continued shooting he noticed one of Francisca's arms was transforming into a cannon of some sort, and she began firing grenades at the creature, which would sink in and get stuck before sending gelatinous chunks of slime flying as they exploded. Any pieces that fell of the beast would transform into slimes as well, some of which fired off spikes and others that flew through the air. Fortunately, they weren't too much of a nuisance as Visca did her best to exert her control over them, herding the creatures away as the Queen Slime herself fired gel at Francisca and Cyrus.

As they continued to damage the creature, Cyrus saw that two massive white shapes were taking form inside the royal slime, and before he could really question what they were they burst out of the slime's body, revealing themselves to be a pair of massive wings, as white as the clouds.

She became a lot more dangerous when that happened, allowing her to fly high in the air and drop down with enough force to snap trees or bombard them from above with bouncing bits of slime, all the while the horde of slimes she spawned only grew larger, kept in check by a panicking Visca.

Eventually, Cyrus ran out of arrows, but before he could panic Francisca fired off a grenade which finally did the job, sending the massive crystal in the center of the slime flying to the side, where it landed on the ground with a massive crash, cracks spider-webbing up its sides.

The massive gemstone which formed the beast's center started to open up, like some horribly misshapen flower, revealing a beautiful young woman. Like visca, she was a slime girl, although she had a pair of "normal" feathery wings, like the pair she had when she was a gigantic slime. She wore a long dress and silver tiara, the slime composing her body a soft purple shade while the hair was a more pinkish color. Cyrus scooped her up and managed to grab ahold of Francisca before rushing over to touch Visca so she was caught up in the magic mirror's teleportation effect.

The four of them reappeared at the village, and Cyrus sighed in relief as he carried the town's newest resident to Abigail. He didn't get mauled this time!

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As for today's naming, Francisca was named, very vaguely, after a historical figure who had an iron hand named Francois de la Noue. From there, I feminized it and decided to use the word francisca, which refers to a sort of throwing axe used in the Middle Ages, which kind of cements her as a more martial sort.


	10. Welcome to the Jungle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: dismemberment

* * *

"So… is she the Queen of the Slimes?" Cyrus and Visca were in the sickroom, sitting next to the unconscious slime girl they had recently found after defeating the Queen Slime.

"Yes. She was my, ah… what's the word? Senpai, upperclassman? Something to that effect. She took me under her wing and helped me figure out the whole ruling the slimes thing."

"You remember what it was like in your previous form?"

"Sort of? The memories came rushing back once I saw her. Everything else… is kind of fuzzy."

"That's really unfortunate. It must be horrible not being able to remember so much."

"I've got the broad strokes, and I'm not sure I need much more. I jumped around and didn't do much more, you know? Maybe it got overwritten with human things- how to walk, language, proper manners, and all that."

Before Cyrus could respond, the other slime girl in the room began to stir in her sleep, her outspread wings gently twitching as her eyes opened. "Hello." She had a gentle voice that seemed almost supernaturally melodic. "Could you tell me where I am?"

"You're in… a village that hasn't been named quite yet. You thirsty?" Cyrus gave her a glass of water, which she hastily drank.

"Thank you." She turned to look at Visca, and her eyes lit up. "Visca dear, is that you? It's been so long!" Shifting from the bed, she went to embrace Visca, first with her arms and then her wings, which wrapped around Visca as well.

Visca flushed, but didn't make any real effort to get out of the hug. "How are you feeling, Regina? It can be a little strange adapting to your human form for the first time."

"Oh, I'm doing well. I'm glad to see that you've got a new friend here! You were always so shy when you first became King." Visca flushed even more, turning a rich purple shade that practically made her match with Regina.

"You're exaggerating a little, aren't you?"

"Not at all. So who's your friend here, Mr Tall, Dark, and Handsome?"

"That's Cyrus, and he's taken, you know."

"Ohhh, so he's your-"

"No! Of course not!"

"Now you're just hurting the poor man's feelings…"

* * *

Regina's most notable feature, on par with the overall… sliminess, was the pair of angelic wings on her back. There was a majesty to them, simultaneously muscular and graceful, the way they contrasted against the purple-pink shade of her hair, the way she gently shook the ice and snow melt off of them-

Damn it, why did Cyrus only start realizing these girls were incredibly pretty once he was in a relationship? Sure, he could recognize a beautiful girl when he saw one, but it was like his senses were kicked into overdrive once he started fooling around with Medulla and Annelida. Actually, thinking about it, that made some sense, but it didn't make Cyrus feel any better.

Regina got along with Bea swimmingly, possibly due to their shared status as Queens, but mostly due to fact that both of them had real, genuine wings. Sure, they didn't fly exactly the same, as Regina's wings were birdlike in contrast to the bee wings on Bea's back, but they were certainly fond of flying around, coming up with elaborate tricks and playing games of tag in the winter sky.

Now that winter had come in earnest, nobody really felt like doing much other than staying inside, with flying being Bea and Regina's notable exception. Cyrus would occasionally put his productive energies to work and build something, but that had an overarching goal of eventually leading to more cozy space to hide from the winter air in.

Harold was telling them about a holiday called Christmas, which Cyrus remembered, if vaguely. While the date itself wouldn't be for quite a while they decided to start prepping for the whole celebration, and everyone was in a festive mood preparing for the gifts and merrymaking. Cyrus was sent out to go get a pine tree to serve as a central decoration.

* * *

Finding an appropriate tree was very easy, all he needed to do was use the teleporter to get to the snow biome, and then search around a bit to find one that was big enough and looked good enough to match everyone's standards. Felling it was easy as well, he had an axe that could cut through the wood as if it wasn't there, and the pine tree fell with a tremendous crash.

The problems started with Cyrus trying to move it. Cyrus could move himself or a few passengers with his mirror, but he couldn't move anything too big- like, say, an entire tree. So Cyrus began to painstakingly haul the tree back home as the sun set far too fast for his liking. He had actually gotten most of the way home before he noticed something was amiss, as the ground began to tremble, as if something was moving around deep below.

Cyrus had learned the cues by now, and drew his bow and retreated from the tree towards the clearing he had faced so many deadly foes in before. No reason to see the Christmas tree get damaged by whatever horrifying monstrosity he fought tonight. Cyrus could get damaged, but not that tree.

* * *

The rumbling only grew stronger as Cyrus waited, and he looked around in every direction to find nothing at all. Of course, the way the earth was shaking, he'd think that the enemy was coming from…

Oh, he was a just an idiot. Cyrus tensed his body and prepared to leap as the vibrations grew and grew, until it felt like his teeth were shaking themselves out of his skull. He leapt into the air and used his jetpack to fly as high up as he could as a gnashing metal mouth rose from the ground where he was standing.

His first thought was over sized pipe, but it was something more like a tremendous metallic worm, and it rose from the ground with no end in sight as Cyrus veered to the side with his jetpack. He landed on the ground and skidded away from the monstrous creature. It truly was massive, towering far above the trees as of its dozens of red lights shone in the cold air.

It turned to charge him once more and Cyrus fired his bow, sending a barrage of arrows down upon the metallic worm, which let out a metallic shriek as it dove towards him, strange metal mandibles whirring as it dove towards him.

The arrows certainly proved effective, but that proved to be a very bad thing when they started knocking the lights that dotted the creature's side out of their sockets, revealing small drones that soared through the air and shot lasers at Cyrus, which grew harder to avoid as Cyrus did more and more damage to the machine.

The lasers couldn't punch through his coat of armor, but the drones seemed to have a supernatural ability to find even the smallest chinks and seams, and the lasers cut thin lines in his skin that drew blood. Just like the other mechanical bosses, this massive worm had adapted to his strategies quickly, and it tried to trap him while he was on the ground while forming circles or long cylinders that hemmed him in and let the drones hit him with easy shots.

At the very least, it was almost impossible for Cyrus to miss with his bow, and he barely even needed to aim to do massive damage to the creature. It was certainly suffering under his barrage, with dozens of empty sockets where drones once were, although the drones had made their mark on Cyrus as well- he was exhausted by now, his strength sapped by dozens of small cuts.

Finally, the beast collapsed in on itself, although Cyrus had to run to the side to avoid getting crushed by the falling segments of metal. Near the head of the creature, he found a young woman with hair like silver, which fell down in a curtain to her hips- hips that transformed into a long, tail-like structure, composed of dozens of metallic segments.

For a moment, Cyrus considered going back for the tree, but this girl didn't look to easy to carry, and he could see blood leaking from the chinks in his armor. Carefully, he picked the girl's upper body up and pulled out the magic mirror, which fortunately teleported him inside instead of sending him tumbling into the snow.

A few of the girls were waiting for him, and Annelida's reaction was the most enthusiastic: "Wow! She's like me!"

Cyrus was shaking on his feet now, and he felt Cthylla at his side, keeping him from falling over. Looking around, he saw Francisca. "Hey, could you handle the tree? I left it out near the field, but I'm in no state to go back and grab it."

She gave a nod and started towards the door. "Hey, just grab a coat first!" She took the coat in her hands, without donning it, and started towards the door. "Wear the coat!"

* * *

After a hefty bandaging and a stern warning from Abigail, Cyrus was mostly fine, but decided to take a little break and not go out picking fights, at least for a few days. It appeared that all three of the mechanical bosses had dropped a strange sort of essence, and with a bit of work they could be used to help forge a pickaxe from the strange metal that composed the original bodies of the bosses, and it seemed to be better than his old one. He also managed to make a truly massive greatsword called Excalibur from the material, although he didn't need any of the bosses' essence to do, which was fine with Cyrus. There was something… deeply unsettling about all three of them.

Cyrus figured this meant that this new worm girl was the last of the mechanical bosses- sure, he didn't have much evidence to back it up other than the pickaxe, and he wondered if there was a mechanical brain or bee flying around somewhere, waiting to ruin his day. He decided to see if Andi had any relevant advice in these trying times.

"So, was that the last big enemy I have to fight, or is that too much to hope for?"

"No way in hell, man. You've got quite a few more to go. The next one… is in the jungle, I think. Before you go picking fights, I'm pretty sure there's a strong ore in the jungle that you can mine now with your fancy new pickaxe."

"Do you have any idea what this new enemy will be like? Is it going to jump me?"

"Hopefully, you're not stupid enough to provoke it. This one will only fight you if you start it."

"So what summons it?"

"Touching a plant."

"But… you do realize that a jungle is all plants, right?"

"And?"

"You're not being very helpful right now."

"And you were expecting me to be super helpful? Want me to chase you around like a lovesick puppy while I'm at it?"

* * *

Cyrus did have to admit that going to the balmy jungle would be a nice change of pace from the freezing cold of home, and he managed to get Bea to come along, hoping that she would have a better knowledge of jungle plants than him.

Getting to the jungle was a bit of pain, as the jetpack Cyrus had grown so fond of really couldn't do long range and would start to overheat, leading to a few embarrassing falls that Bea had to save him from, and the jetpack made carrying him an inconvenience as well.

Just before they were due to land in the jungle, there was an ear-piercing roar from directly behind them, and both Cyrus and Bea lunged to the side as a massive creature flew between them, something like a cross between a snake and a dragon. It was long and sinewy, covered in blindingly white scales broken up by a ridge of green on its back. It wheeled through the air, turning for another charge an revealing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth that would certainly hurt Cyrus and would definitely shred the currently unarmored Bea.

Cyrus would have to strike first before Bea got hurt, so he drew Excalibur and flew to meet the wyvern, and just before it was about to take a massive bite out of his torso, Cyrus flew just a little higher with his jet pack, and the moment his feet hit the creature's back he started running down its length, striking down with his sword and leaving a long gash that went down most of the creature's length before he had to leap off.

The creature shrieked and turned in the air in an attempt to catch him, but Cyrus was ready to meet it, and he managed to pull himself out of the way by hooking onto the wyvern itself, although Cyrus had to unhook himself rather quickly so the creature didn't just kill him through whiplash by snapping its tail.

Excalibur was definitely unwieldy, especially when he was fumbling in the air, but Cyrus didn't like the idea of filling the air with holy arrows when he and Bea were flying around. Speaking of, Bea was circling them at range to avoid the wild wyvern.

The creature flew by again, and Cyrus managed to dig the sword into the creature's flank again, and it shrieked in fury before beginning to fall towards the jungle. Feeling his jetpack running hot against his back, Cyrus decided to follow and see if the creature dropped anything interesting.

* * *

The wyvern had crashed in a particularly dense thicket in the jungle, and Cyrus felt some relief that his bad luck didn't cause the creature to crash into the particular plant Andi warned him about. There was a strange sort of glowing thing hanging above the creature's dead body, and Cyrus managed to bottle the glowing light blue substance.

It seemed like the beast had crashed near an entrance to the underground jungle, so Cyrus and Bea descended into the depths of the jungle. It had been quite a while since Cyrus had been to the jungle, before defeating the Wall of Flesh, before loosing Garrett, and it felt different. The air had a strange smell to it, an earthy scent with undertones of something rotting- although he supposed that death and decay were as much a part of the jungle as the verdant greens and terrifying wildlife.

The creatures of the jungle had only grown more horrible in his absence: the hornets were bigger, massive spiders crawled through the tunnels and caves, the water teemed with massive predatory fish, and the turtles launched themselves at Cyrus like cannonballs, and they had to stop frequently to recuperate from vicious attacks from the wildlife.

During one of those breaks, Cyrus found a strange plant growing on the ground, which had a single heart shaped fruit, and Cyrus reached out to pluck the gleaming golden fruit before he could stop himself. The moment he plucked it, he froze, expecting some horrific monstrosity to pop out from behind a corner of the thin tunnels.

"What's the matter, Cyrus? You're bee-ing awfully paranoid."

"Andi warned me that one of the plants in the jungle would summon a powerful monster, but here I am, plucking fruit at random just because they look appetizing."

"I think I'll be able to tell which plant it is Cyrus. I'm a lot more in tune with the jungle than you are. For now, let's split that fruit of yours. It really does look good."

"Wait, how do we know it's not poisonous?"

"Bee senses, Cyrus."

Shrugging, Cyrus pulled out a knife and cut the fruit down the middle, leaving one half for himself and passing the other to Bea, golden juice running down their hands. Bea gave a satsified "Mmmm" and Cyrus had to agree: for just a simple fruit, it tasted incredible, and he literally felt healthier after he was finished eating. Unfortunately, neither of them had thought to bring napkins, so their hands were sticky for the rest of the trip (not helped by them finding and splitting more of the golden fruit). At least Bea could keep the bees away.

* * *

Eventually, their path was blocked by a wall of… something strange. It was metallic and reflected light the same way his armor did, but it looked almost plantlike, like thick green vines or roots overlapping each other. An experimental kick revealed that yes, the wall was made out of an extremely hard material, like ore, although it was a bright green color.

Fortunately, his new pickaxe cut through it easily enough, and Cyrus made sure to collect every chunk he could. This stuff was very tough, and he had a feeling that it would make good armor. Once he knew what to look for it was fairly common, although sometimes he had to excavate a lot of mud to get to it.

It certainly wasn't the worst way to spend a day, and by the time Cyrus and Bea returned home, they had gorged themselves on the strange golden fruit until they couldn't eat anymore of the fruit, and even brought a little extra home. Bea was determined to bake something from them, although even knowing how good of a cook she was, Cyrus wasn't sure she could improve on perfection.

* * *

It turned out that she could improve on perfection, or at least she was good enough of a chef to keep the fruit perfect even while in pie form.

Soon enough, demands were being made to gather more of this fruit for their eventual Christmas celebration, and Cyrus couldn't help but agree, even if he wanted to take a break before going back to the jungle (Cyrus remembered the heat but not the humidity! The relatively warmth of the jungle was less nice when accompanied by the sticky feeling that came from sweating while it was too humid).

Sadly, Cyrus was the last person to finish his pie, although not for lack of trying. Cthylla and Annelida were both trying to spoon feed him at the same time, and while Cyrus certainly wasn't complaining, all the posturing and arguing meant that he was barely eating any pie, although having both of them scooting close to feed him made it worth it.

"Cyrus, you've got a little something on your cheek, let me get it for you…"

* * *

Part of the reason why everyone tolerated Harold the Merchant was because he had an amazing ability to get his hands on the simple necessities that you never realize you'd miss, until you were say, dumped in the middle of the wilderness in a strange and hostile land. Cyrus wasn't sure what his life was like before he found himself here, but sometimes he'd stop and think that something was missing.

Cyrus realized that he hadn't had a haircut in months at least when it started getting caught in the space between his helmet and the gorget, the part of his chestplate which protected his throat. Cyrus had actually lost chunks of his hair to the giant mechanical worm, or more specifically, he lost it them to the lasers fired by its swarms of drones. The way it was looking, it was going to take longer than usual for the newest girl to wake up, so Cyrus decided to visit Roxanne and see if he could get his hair managed.

Roxanne had turned a corner of her room into a miniature beauty salon, and Cyrus was ushered over just a few seconds after he knocked. "I've been waiting for you to come over and get that mess cleaned up!" She certainly took better care of her appearance than Cyrus did- her dark red hair gleamed in the light, and Cyrus could barely remember how she looked when they first rescued her from the spider's nest she was trapped in.

Before Roxanne could start fighting the hot mess that was his hair, they saw someone in the mirror, standing at the door. "What are you doing here, Francisca?"

"I came to check on Cyrus, and to inquire about learning how to style hair." She gestured to her hair, and Cyrus did have to admit it didn't look quite as pristine as did when she first took human form.

"Well now's not exactly the best time to start teaching, but I do have some mannequins to help keep my skills sharp. You can try to follow along, if you'd like."

* * *

Cyrus decided to never let Francisca cut his hair considering how badly she mauled the mannequin. Fortunately, Roxanne had stopped her from using her chainsaw attachment (Cyrus was convinced she had some sort of fascination with it, considering how often she whipped it out to 'solve' any problem), but strange laser cutter Francisca used wasn't much better, given the singe marks that covered the wooden head of the mannequin.

"That girl…. Sometimes I wonder how she dresses herself in the morning."

"With clothes, presumably."

"Oh, shut up, Cyrus."

"Should I pay you? I mean I think I've got some coins on me…"

"You saved my life, the least I can do is give you a haircut. Now come on, let's check on our newest guest."

"You never really seemed interested in seeing the girls when they woke up before though…"

Roxanne flushed, although she wasn't quite as red as her hair. "I've just got to ask her about her hair care routine!"

"Well it's not like she'll remember how her hair got that way, will she? Plus, you've already got the best hair in the entire village, no competition."

…. And now her face matched her hair.

* * *

They rushed over in time to see their newest guest's eyes slide open, revealing irises the color of rubies as the metallic segments composing her body lit up the same shade of red.

"Hello there, what's your name? I'm Cyrus, and the girl to my left is Roxanne."

"My name… is Ditra. It's a pleasure to meet you both." Before they could continue exchanging pleasantries, Ditra's stomach growled fiercely and she flushed. "Could you get me some food? Moving all this," she gestured towards her long metallic tail "takes a lot of energy."

It seemed like Ditra shared more than just a similar body structure with Annelida, as they both had truly tremendous appetites. After she had eaten her fill, she managed to scoot off the bed without damaging anything (Cyrus wondered if he would have to rebuild the houses with stronger floors. He swore he could hear them creaking under the girl, not that he would ever say that to her face.) and Cyrus showed her around town.

Eventually, they bumped into Annelida just as they finished their little tour, and Cyrus genuinely wasn't sure how the two would react to each other. Cthylla and the Twins were fine with each other, and it was the same with Lacrima and Francisca, but that didn't really prove anything.

"So you're finally up! I'm Annelida and I assume you know Cyrus' name by now."

"I'm Ditra."

"Uhh… you feel like saying anything else?"

"Not really."

Annelida's brows furrowed. "Well okay then. Are you done showing her around, Cyrus?"

Cyrus nodded, and Annelida clamped onto his arm. "Then come relax with us for a while, Cyrus! You still need to recover, after all!"

Annelida started dragging him (presumably) in the direction of Cthylla and Medulla, and Cyrus certainly wasn't going to complain.

Ditra looked on and gave a smile. "Interesting."

* * *

Eventually, Cyrus decided to go back to the jungle with the intent to fight whatever creature dwelled within its depths. Of course, everyone was a little uncomfortable with him going off to pick another fight, but Cyrus figured he had to do it eventually. He wasn't a very egotistical person, but Cyrus had a feeling that in some way, fighting to rid the world of evil was his destiny, in a grand sense.

Of course, that didn't mean he was going alone, and of all people it was Visca who decided to come along. Just before they could head out on what would be a very long trip on foot (his poor jetpack could barely carry Cyrus and his armor, much less a second person), Medulla ran up to them with something in her arms, although Cyrus couldn't make out what exactly it was under the canvas wrapping.

"I've got something for you, Cyrus."

"Well, what is it?" Medulla pulled away the canvas to reveal a beautiful pair of wings, a beautiful shade of blue white that Cyrus recognized as being the same color as that feather he had found in the ice biome a while back. He wasn't sure where an entire wing's worth of extra feathers came from, but it was clear that these wings were a labor of love.

"Thank you." Cyrus leaned forward and caught Medulla's lips in a kiss.

"Hey, don't we have a trip to go on, Cyrus?" Visca was crossing her arms and looked rather irate. Cyrus nodded.

"So… how do I use these? I mean they're certainly nice, but I can't just slide them on like a jetpack…"

"Turn around, would you?" Cyrus did, and after a few moments of shuffling behind him, he felt something _click_ onto his back, between his shoulders. Suddenly, he could feel the wings- the air in his feathers (That was certainly a sentence) and they seemed to be getting bigger, growing until they went from being small enough to hold in one's arms to large enough that the tips of the wings nearly touched the ground.

"That feels so weird!" Looking back, he could see a massive pair of icy wings on his back, sending strange patterns onto the ground as the sunlight refracted through the translucent feathers. Despite the fact that the wings were made of ice, he could feel them just like he felt his own arm, although it took him a bit of stretching to get used to them. Unsurprisingly, having a new pair of limbs threw him off a little.

"These wings should mean you can carry a person around like Bea. Should save you some time."

Nodding, Cyrus went to Visca and managed to find a way to grip her that wouldn't get anyone upset at him. Looking at Visca, Cyrus couldn't help but notice that she looked a little uncomfortable with the whole thing. "Are you okay? We don't have to fly if you don't want too, you know?"

"No no no, I'm fine. Just make sure not to crash."

Nodding, Cyrus bent his knees and jumped before flapping as hard as he could, sending both of them soaring into the air.

"EEEEEEEEK!"

* * *

The trip to the jungle was quick, and soon they were descending into the depths of the underground jungle. The wildlife proved as vicious as always, although Cyrus managed to salvage some mostly intact shells from the turtles that roamed the jungle.

Admittedly, it was a little frustrating to just wonder throughout the jungle with no idea of what they were searching for, other than the vague description of "weird plant", especially considering how the jungle was already full of weird plants even before, including ones that wanted to kill you.

Visca certainly wasn't too happy with the situation either, and all the humidity was proving unfortunate for the slime girl, as all the water was literally making her less viscous, and Cyrus was worried he'd have to carry her home in a bucket.

Cyrus first noticed something was off when he saw the faint pink light out of the corner of his eye, and when he turned he saw a strange pink bulb that gently pulsated as it glowed. Cyrus somehow knew this was his plant, and this strange bulb would summon something terrible. After making sure that there was a clear path to a large cavern nearby, Cyrus carefully pulled out his pickaxe and swung.

The bulb practically disintegrated on contact, and there was a horrible shrieking sound that send a shiver down his spine. Cyrus and Visca broke into a sprint as the ground shook and chunks of mud fell of the walls.

* * *

The enemy this time was a monstrous plant, easily several times bigger than Cyrus, the majority of its body being a massive pink bulb that looked quite like the bulb Cyrus crushed earlier. Cyrus caught a whiff of it and his knees nearly buckled as he retched. It smelled strongly of death, like a monstrous carrion flower, and it was already being surrounded by great clouds of mosquitoes and gnats as it let out an unearthly roar and started… growing towards him, almost? It moved by pulling itself with massive vines that clamped onto everything in sight.

Cyrus pulled out his stormbow and thanked his unbelievable luck that he was fighting the creature in a cavern with a ridiculously high ceiling. As arrows started to pelt the creature, it shrieked and began to spray giant seeds into the air, and both Cyrus and Visca dodged out of the way.

The plant certainly wasn't the fastest monster Cyrus had ever faced, but he certainly didn't want to get close, both because of the smell and the enemy's massive bulk. His arrows had a gigantic target, but the more damage he did, the more enraged the plant got (if plants could get angry?), and now it also launched great balls of thorns in addition to the bullet-like seeds.

Obviously, plants don't bleed, but a foul sap flowed from the dozens of cuts and scratches caused by Cyrus' arrows as he strafed around its attacks. The petals grew more and more threadbare as his arrows landed, and eventually with a terrible shriek they were torn to ribbons as it revealed a monstrous mouth lined with razor thin teeth like structures. Dozens of vines sprouted form the creature's sides, surrounding it with a terrible halo of tentacles and gnashing mouths.

Suddenly, the monster was moving a lot faster, and Cyrus was finding it harder and harder to avoid the creature, which struck with all the speed and strength of a wild animal despite being an overgrown plant. Fortunately, his arrows proved as reliable as usual, and they made quick work of most of the tentacles.

No more seeds or thorn balls now, although now the creature was just trying to crush him. As Cyrus ran to the side to avoid being splattered against a wall, he couldn't quite avoid one of the few tentacles still left alive, and it clamped onto his leg with a tremendous force. Before he could shake it off or pull out a close range weapon to deal with the thing, he heard a hissing sound and felt a terrible burning sensation on his leg, as whatever acid the plant secreted melted through his armor like nothing.

Cyrus slashed with Excalibur, cutting himself free, and leapt backwards only to feel his injured leg collapse under his weight. Looking down, he saw massive acid burns on his leg that almost certainly ruined his ability to walk. With an awkward sort of push up motion, he managed to lift himself up and then used his wings to escape the terrible maw of his foe.

Fighting from the air wasn't too bad of an idea, and he continued to fire arrows from the air, flying to avoid the massive hooks the creature used to navigate and the sprays of foul spores it spewed from its mouth. He was unfortunate enough to take a breath of the things, and the fierce coughing certainly didn't help his aim, or the terrible shooting pains in his lungs.

He was getting exhausted now, his breath coming in pants, and having to rely solely on giant wings to move himself around didn't help. The plant only grew wilder as the fight continued, and just before his arrows managed to do the creature in, it finally out sped him and took a tremendous bite of his uninjured leg, and Cyrus realized with horror he could no longer feel his leg below the knee.

Finally, the thing crumpled in on itself as they crashed to the jungle floor together, revealing, as usual, a girl. Her most notable feature was vibrant green hair, although Cyrus was too dizzy and addled by the previous battle to notice anything else. He collapsed onto the ground and heard someone calling for him…

The last thing he remembered was someone crying onto his chest and then the familiar sound of someone using the magic mirror to teleport home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naming convention today is fairly obvious. Regina as in queen, Ditra was intended to be a shortening of Perditor, Latin for destroyer, but it also just sounds similar. Only after coming up with the name do I realize that it sounds like the name of a medicine. Chapter title inspiration is pretty obvious.
> 
> I tried to give some oomph to the wings- they're certainly more impressive than a jetpack, ya know?
> 
> If you have any suggestions, be sure to comment! Seeing comments really brightens up my day! I also really want some feedback. I'm worried if I've got like, a proper ratio of harem stuff to action/adventuring, ya know?
> 
> Also, of all the Terraria NPCs, Stylist is best girl fite me
> 
> NOTE: All this build up to Christmas makes more sense when this chapter was published, back in pre-Christmas 2020. So... yeah. Takes some of the oomph out of the holiday special, I suppose.


	11. What an Ice Night

Cyrus had survived some pretty brutal fights before, and it was pretty rare for him to escape from battle completely unscathed. Abigail had taken to sitting outside and reading while waiting for Cyrus to show up, since the magic mirror teleported back to the exact same spot every time.

Of course, the she leapt from her seat and grabbed her medical kit the moment she saw all the blood, and rushed to Cyrus' side and applied medical aid as quickly as she could, making sure to apply a tourniquet to what was left of his right leg.

Of course, all the ruckus brought everyone out to see what was going on, but Abigail was too busy trying to patch up Cyrus to really respond to their panicked questions.

"Is he going to be alright?" Hell, Abigail wished she could answer that question. She started to pour a healing potion down his throat. Normally, she preferred to let the body heal naturally, as healing potions were stopgap solutions for healing in the middle of a fight, but this was urgent.

How could such a dainty girl cause so much damage? Acid burns and an impromptu amputation all in one fight? Of course, the armor was ruined, although Abigail cringed when she thought of how bad the damage would be if his armor was weaker. She really needed to get on his case about always getting the best possible armor before a fight, before he got himself killed.

Abigail vaguely wondered if someone else could design a prosthetic for him (it's not like they weren't lacking in experts in that department) but quickly got back to treating Cyrus. A prosthetic leg wouldn't be any good if Cyrus wasn't alive to use it.

After Cyrus's condition was stabilized and he wasn't in danger of bleeding out on the floor, he was carried to the sickroom along with their newest addition to the town, the green haired girl that had put up such an incredible fight.

* * *

Later that night, everyone in town with the exception of Cyrus and their strange new guest, were awakened when the relative silence of the night was shattered with a terrible scream in the distance.

"Is everyone alright?" Out of everyone, Abigail had reacted the fastest, medical training bringing her to high alert the moment she heard screaming.

Everyone else was a little less aware, but a series of murmured yeses left them all wondering the same thing: who screamed?

"So, does anyone have any idea where that scream might have come from? Everyone's here, so no one could have gotten attacked while they were out or something..."

"It totally came from the dungeon, dude."

"What makes you think that, Veronica?"

Veronica gave a smile and the ears on top of her head gave a gentle twitch. "Super sensitive fox hearing, bro!"

Abigail sighed. "So I suppose we'll have to investigate the dungeon sometime soon? Normally we'd send Cyrus for this sort of thing, but that scream sounded urgent, and he's going to be busy healing…"

"I volunteer to search the dungeon in Cyrus' stead." Francisca stepped forward, and Abigail cringed.

Knowing when a battle was unwinnable, she turned to their resident tailor. "Lacrima, you know your way around the dungeon, don't you?" Lacrima nodded. "Then please, keep Francisca from doing something stupid."

* * *

The dungeon was already a dangerous place on a good day, and being sleep deprived made it worse. Lacrima probably would have bumbled herself to death if Francisca wasn't there tearing apart anything that looked at her funny and casually blocking darts and traps with her metal arms.

It almost made her feel obsolete- in the same way that Francisca's previous boss form was a direct improvement when compared to Lacrima's old form, Francisca was more competent in a fight than just about anyone around her, with the possible exception of Cyrus. Meanwhile, all Lacrima could really do was sew well, and for all she knew Francisca had a sewing machine tucked away in somewhere. Of course, it wasn't Francisca's fault for being supremely competent, and Lacrima didn't blame her, but it also didn't make her feel much better.

Even her knowledge of the dungeon felt out of date now. The mysterious screams emanating from the depths of the dungeon had accompanied major changes in the enemies that prowled those terrible halls. The skeletons which patrolled the place had only grown fiercer and more well armed, and great haunted skulls floated through the walls to ambush them from behind.

Suddenly, there was a terrible cracking sound from behind her and she turned to see that Francisca had caught one of the skeletons in a literal vice grip before she threw it into a wall with a enough force to dissolve whatever forces kept the skeleton together. Francisca didn't even stop to check that the job was done and instead lunged at a particularly heavily armed skeleton, chainsaw roaring. Of course, this meant she didn't notice the strange spirit that rose from the bones of the dead skeleton, but before it could enact its vengeance on Francisca, Lacrima dispatched it with a flaming skull.

That was certainly new. The spirit, whatever it was, left behind a strange sort of essence that glowed light blue in the dark of the dungeon. Cautiously, Lacrima bottled the substance and went to follow Francisca.

The next door they found opened into a vast room, although only one enemy stood in the room waiting for them: a great figure in a massive suit of armor, gleaming gray with golden trim, and it carried a shield and hammer to match the armor.

Every step it took echoed through the brick halls of the dungeon, and in spite of the sheer size and presence of whatever was wearing the armor, there was nothing but inky blackness on the inside, darker than deepest cave and just as impersonal. The dungeon was already generally cold, dark, and damp, but something about the emptiness staring back at her from that helm… it sent chills down Lacrima's spine.

The ghostly Paladin lifted its hammer, and threw it with a speed that stunned Lacrima. If it was aiming for her, it probably would have landed, and Lacrima almost felt a little offended that the Paladin immediately decided that Francisca was the bigger threat. The hammer crashed into the wall with a terrible crunch, fragments of masonry flying through the air as Francisca leapt to the side, kicking off of a table and sending it skidding as she dashed towards the Paladin.

She turned her charge into a leap, hoping to throw the enemy off balance but the Paladin stopped her in her tracks with its massive shield, and Francisca barely managed to roll out of the way as the rim of the shield slammed down with tremendous force inches behind her. The Paladin lifted its hand, and Lacrima moved to the side as the hammer shifted its way out of the wall before soaring back to its wielder's gauntlet.

The Paladin's slow movements belied a terrible strength and speed, especially when wielding its weapons, and Lacrima experimentally sent a flaming skull towards its back. She knew that her skulls had more effect than normal weapons when it came to armor, but it still surprised her when it simply ate through the gleaming metal armor and exposed more of the inky black inside. Of course, the Paladin noticed her attack and turned to throw its hammer with tremendous speed. Lacrima dove out of the way and turned the motion into a roll as the Paladin let out an unearthly keen as its weapon flew back to its hand.

She summoned another skull into her hand as Francisca recovered on the other side of the room and charged for the new hole Lacrima had punched in the creature's armor. Together, they could probably win this.

* * *

After a particularly well placed shot by Francisca managed to land a bomb inside the Paladin's armor, the creature was done for, and as the set of armor fell to the floor, it left behind a tremendous hammer and a massive shield.

"So, what exactly do we do with these?"

Francisca stroked her chin, apparently deep in thought, and Lacrima idly wondered where she picked that particular quirk up from, or if it somehow came pre-programmed in?

"Both seem useful. Perhaps we could make use of them in future." Lacrima tried to lift the shield, key word being tried, before conceding and letting Francisca carry both as they traveled deeper into the dungeon.

The deeper they went, more spirits sprung from the remains of the defeated creatures, and Lacrima made sure to gather more of the ectoplasm they left behind- it might be useful for something, after all. Other than that, there wasn't much of interest in the dungeon other than the terrifying new enemies, and they still hadn't made any progress on finding the source of that mysterious screaming.

While pondering what could have possible caused all that noise, Lacrima was interrupted from her thoughts by the very same screaming as before, and she dashed towards the noise… only to find one of the many ghostly skulls that had started wandering the halls recently. After dispelling the creature with one of her own flaming skulls, Lacrima realized that the screaming was probably just one of these skulls who got a little too close to the surface.

It was a surprisingly simple answer, although she was still bitter that everyone (with the notable exception of Cyrus) had lost sleep over something so stupid.

* * *

Of course, nothing put a damper on on Christmas celebrations quite like a horrific mauling, but everyone tried to make the best of things in spite of that. It was something of an open secret that one of the gifts Cyrus would be receiving would be a prosthetic of some kind to make up for the loss of his leg, with both Judith and Meredith locked away to work on the thing.

The room that they had commandeered for said project was a complete mess, covered in whatever bits and bobs they thought might help create a substitute. Despite lots of talking with Francisca, Asta, and Tina, the resident experts on living with prosthetics, the way it was looking the leg wasn't going to be a perfect replacement in the same vein as the ones the ex-Mechanical Bosses had, and it seemed like Cyrus would be at a disadvantage in most upcoming fights unless he could stay in the air.

At the very least, Cyrus' new wings remained largely undamaged by the fight, although they certainly made him take up a lot more space in the sickroom. Medulla had apologized profusely once the full extent of the situation was realized: the wings were, at least in the short term, stuck on Cyrus, as they required conscious action on his part to take off.

They turned out to be something of a pain, even if they weren't melting onto the bedsheets. They made maneuvering around Cyrus a tremendous pain for rather obvious reasons, and if you tried to fold them up they made his back inaccessible. While the ice certainly made the wings look unique and almost ethereal, they also made the room much colder, and they had to pile blankets on top of Cyrus to keep him from getting too chilly during his recovery.

* * *

Lacrima was the village's main provider of clothes (other than perhaps Harold, but he had a little bit of everything) and she was proud of that, but she also liked experimenting with new designs. It was a shame that all of Cyrus' armor had to be made of metal, which she wasn't capable of working with. Brigandine or a gambeson, something where the armor integrated fabric elements, that was possible, but something like plate? No way.

Of course, that didn't stop her from giving it a shot. If you really tried, there were very few things you couldn't make armor out of in this world, and Lacrima was interested to see what she could with the strange ectoplasm that she recovered from the dungeon. It felt almost magical, and while her attempts to combine it with her silk failed, she felt that it was only one ingredient short from something interesting.

Her experimenting was interrupted when the door flew open and Francisca walked in without even knocking.

"Gahh! Could you please knock?" Francisca turned and rose her hand to knock on the opened door as Lacrima sighed. "You're supposed to knock before you enter a room, please try to remember that."

"I will endeavor to knock in the future, Lacrima. Are you in need of assistance? I find myself without much to do."

Lacrima sighed. Francisca really was right in that she didn't do much on the home front, and now that she thought it over, a helping hand wouldn't hurt, right? "Sure. Sit down, and I can show you the ropes."

"What ropes? All I see is fabric. Are you attempting to make it into a rope?"

"It's an idiom, meaning to teach someone how to do something." Francisca nodded and sat next to Lacrima, but when Lacrima turned back to her work she noticed that something strange was happening to her fabric and the ectoplasm. Seemingly aggravated by Francisca's presence, the fabric began to move by itself, forming a box-like shape as the ectoplasm burrowed into the silk, dying it bone white. When the process finished, something like a present sat before them, although the skull on the front certainly made it less cheerful.

Francisca looked to Lacrima. "Can you teach me how you did that?"

Lacrima groaned and held her head in her hands.

* * *

Eventually, the young woman who was once Plantera woke up to see Abigail and Bea sitting by her bedside, and she sat up as she looked around an unfamiliar room (that not she was familiar with any rooms) and noticed the curtains cordoning off a large portion of the room and the faint silhouette of wings within.

"Where, where am I?"

"You're currently in what passes for a hospital in this town. I'm Abigail and this is Bea. Could you tell us your name?"

The green haired girl managed to stand up on shaking legs. "I'm Aria." She gave a small smile which was partially hidden by her long mane of wild green hair, which fell down past her shoulders and matched the color of the long pleated skirt she wore, which came all the way down to her ankles.

Abigail took one look at her hair and sighed. "Let me introduce you to Roxanne…"

* * *

Aria objected fiercely to any attempts at cutting her hair, but did concede when Roxanne offered to braid it. With her grass green hair no longer a chaotic mess, Abigail gave led her out of Roxanne's little salon to give her a tour of the village.

As the pair left, Roxanne squinted as she looked at Aria's gently swaying braid. "Are those… flowers? I'll be damned, I certainly don't remember weaving any in…"

* * *

Aria practically wilted when walking between buildings in the cold, although the sunlight seemed to do her a lot of good. She quickly called dibs on the room with the biggest set of windows she could find.

"So… who else was in the sickroom with me? I mean I couldn't miss the curtains and the mysterious silhouette, you know."

Abigail cringed. "Do you remember what you were before you woke up in that bed?"

"I was… some sort of plant monster, I think? Then I got into a fight with someone…. oh. Oh."

Abigail nodded. "You'll meet Cyrus eventually, I'm sure. He keeps on getting knocked down, but always stands back up. It would almost be inspiring if I wasn't the one who had to stitch him back together."

Aria smiled. "So, are there more like me? I mean from what you said…"

"Before you, we had twelve different girls who came from as many monsters, although the Twins were a sort of package deal… Now that you're here, that makes a full baker's dozen of monster girls. There are also a few… well normal seems a little offensive to you girls, doesn't it? Mundane villagers wondering around town as well."

* * *

Especially once Aria had moved out, you could always find someone in the sickroom waiting for Cyrus to wake up, although who it was varied from day to day. Medulla would spend her time reading, usually alone, but sometimes she would drag someone along with her to discuss her reading with. Usually this someone would be either Cthylla or Annelida, but sometimes she would talk Lacrima's ear off while the other girl stitched away.

Whenever Annelida came into the room, eventually Ditra would find her way in as well, and the relationship between the two stayed chilly. Occasionally one of the Twins would rush in on an errand for Meredith and Judith and would start taking measures of Cyrus's stump before Abigail shooed them away.

Occasionally Visca and Regina would check in, usually together, and while the former would focus on Cyrus' injuries, the latter would focus on his wings. Even if they weren't quite as natural as her own pair, Regina couldn't wait to have someone else to talk to about flight (well of course there was Bea, but… a girl needed an excuse to start a conversation, right?).

* * *

For quite a few days, the strange present that Lacrima had made simply sat at her workstation, a consistent malignant presence that pushed Lacrima to find other places to work, like say the sickroom, even if she couldn't give a conscious reason for her choice.

If the present lingered at the back of Lacrima's mind, it slipped Francisca's mind completely, who focused on improving her skills in combat as much as she could. Sure, she could sense that there was something… off about the present, but it never really occurred to her that it was something unusual about that particular present. Who was she to say that all wrapped presents weren't actually evil? Besides, if it really was a problem, then someone would have handled it, so Francisca shrugged it off entirely.

Meanwhile, the present itself seethed with a foul aura, an aura that only grew stronger as the moon grew full and fat in the sky.

As the full moon approached, the town wasn't expecting much out of the usual. Board up the doors and windows, make sure to put Veronica somewhere where she wouldn't hurt anyone (or wreck the decorations) in her werefox form, although she proved to have a remarkable sense of self control in her animalistic form.

Of course, any chance of it being a normal night faded as the present finally gathered enough energy and burst with a sound like terrible laughter, and the Frost Moon rose, snow white and terrible.

* * *

Cyrus woke up and felt a chill. Of course, part of that was probably the giant icy wings strapped to his back, but there was a strange coldness in the air that sunk deep into his bones even if the room was well heated. Looking around, he saw Abigail walking over to check on him, even if she was fiercely shivering from the cold.

"Cyrus, it's good to see that you've finally woken up. You're going to have to stay in bed for quite a while longer, especially considering your…" She looked down at the foot of the bed.

He followed her gaze. "My what?" Looking down, he could see piles of blankets around his lower body, and he could follow the faint outline of his torso to the hips, but at the legs… it was like one of them was gone. He gasped as he remembered his fight with the strange plant monster of the jungles, and realized that the loss of his leg wasn't just some hallucination brought on by the heady jungle fumes.

"My leg! What happened to my leg?"

"It's gone, Cyrus, and the other one is so damaged by acid I can't say that you'll ever walk quite like you used to. In the short term you might even need a wheelchair to get around."

Cyrus had grown to expect that his mobility would only grow over time: from his first steps in the forest, to rocket boots and eventually wings, Cyrus felt he was constantly getting faster and stronger with time, and having that snatched away from him was terrifying. If one bad fight could- no, did actually manage to cripple him, how could he say he was well prepared to face whatever came next?

Looking outside, Cyrus could see that it was snowing, and while that certainly wasn't surprising given the time of year, there was something strange about the snowflakes, and as they twirled through the air he could almost see faces glaring at him, and he wondered for a moment if it was some trick of the light when an arrow sunk into the window sill, mere inches from soaring into the room.

Both Abigail and Cyrus froze, and they could faintly hear shouting from outside, along with the distinctive sound of Francisca's chainsaw. Cyrus tried to lift himself off the bed, but nearly fell over, unused to his body's new distribution of weight.

"Cyrus, you can't go out, you can barely walk!"

Cyrus gave a grin and pulled out his hook. "Then all I have to do is not touch the ground then."

"Don't you dare-"

Cyrus threw the hook and it sunk into the wall just above a window on the opposite side of the room, and Cyrus braced himself as the hook dragged him through the window and out into the cold night air. He could feel pain where shards of glass cut into his skin or the ice of his wings, but he recovered quickly and flew up to get a better view of the situation.

* * *

The town hadn't descended into chaos (at least not yet) but it was clear they had some unexpected company: shambling corpses dressed like Christmas elves, miniature elvish archers (presumably the source of the arrow that nearly flew into the sickroom), and even giant gingerbread men. It was like a strange parody of the Christmas holiday, although it landed somewhere between comedic and horrifying.

Obviously, Cyrus couldn't use his stormbow in the middle of town unless he wanted to spend the next few days repairing the roofs (or worse, trying to talk someone else through the process) and as such he drew Excalibur, tucked his wings behind his back and dove.

Almost like a falcon, Cyrus dove from the sky, eventually becoming a bright blur that swooped down into the ranks of holiday themed monsters and made a bloody tear in their ranks before flying high again. His armor certainly wasn't in proper condition to fight on the ground, and even in the sky he had to remain cautious in order to avoid arrows from the ground.

Back in the sky, he could see Francisca fighting a… was that a giant nutcracker? Cyrus was so stunned by that particular visual that he nearly got hit by an arrow, but shook his head and got back to dive bombing the holiday hordes terrorizing the town.

Suddenly, Cyrus' nostrils were filled with the scent of pine needles, and he could see a massive tree prowling the streets of the town, great branches serving as its arms while two bright red tree ornaments served as its eyes. For the second time in… well Cyrus didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but at least to him it felt like it had been mere minutes since he had fought another angry plant.

Cyrus dove, Excalibur gleaming in the air behind him, and struck with enough force to cut one of the creature's arms off. It turned with incredible speed, and Cyrus started to swerve to avoid the tree's raking claw when it was turned into ash by a flaming skull courtesy of Lacrima. Seizing the advantage, Cyrus delivered a flurry of blows with Excalibur, sending branches and Christmas baubles flying through the air. Eventually, after a significant trimming, the tree collapsed in on itself to reveal… a girl. Of course. Cyrus could only catch a few glimpses of her- long brown hair, a long green cape that covered most of her body, a pine bough in her hands- before he scooped her up in his arms and flew towards the nearing building with a flat roof. After carefully depositing her on the roof and shouting to the girls about her location, he got back to the fight.

* * *

The helicopters were definitely an inconvenience for Cyrus, given his dependence on flight for his combat strategy, but Cyrus dispatched most of them the moment he got close enough for Excalibur to do its work.

A more major threat to his air superiority came when he saw a massive figure, like a mix between a tank and a mech coming from the distance. It took a few moments for him to realize what exactly he was looking at, and he decided that this was a terrible introduction to Santa Claus, all things considered.

The Santa tank (Santank?) let out a spray of bullets at Cyrus, like some sort of anti air gun, and as he flew to get out of the way he could all sorts of terrible weapons on the thing's back. Racks of gleaming red missiles and throwers for presents (which Cyrus already knew were bad news, even if he couldn't tell what exactly was dangerous about them).

Of course, with all those long range weapons… it would be a shame if someone got too close for them to be effective, wouldn't it? Cyrus grinned and dove in close, putting all his weight and speed from the dive behind a massive strike to the mechanical monstrosity's face, although he definitely didn't expect the entire thing to sheer off, revealing a metallic skull that glared at him with amber eyes.

Cyrus stuck close to the creature, striking at its treads and joints to slow down the already sluggish machine, making sure to dodge the occasional spiked ball that bounced off the ground. With such a small distance between them, dodging its ranged weapons became a non issue, and Cyrus managed to whittle away at the thing until it collapsed as well.

The girl inside the tank-mech thing fell into a snowbank which cushioned her fall and also happened to match the color of her hair perfectly. She wore a long red dress with white trim (almost like one of those Santa hats the girls had gotten their hands on, but as a dress) that was very, ahh… low cut. Cyrus picked the girl up and dropped her off on the same roof as last time, wondering if he was fortunate enough to only face two bosses tonight.

* * *

Of course, Cyrus never knew when to stop testing his luck, and he groaned when he saw the newest enemy he would have to face. She (because it certainly seemed like a she) was formed entirely from ice with a mostly human looking body from the waist up and strange sort of crystalline structure forming her lower half. She had wings, although they were attached to the arms almost like a sugar glider as opposed to the more birdlike wings that Cyrus had.

She was incredibly fast, moving across the sky in confusing patterns while sending great gouts of ice cold wind into the air. Cyrus' icy wings weren't quite a match for whatever magic propelled the creature through the air, but his hook made up for it and let him dodge of out of the way of the cutting blasts of air. It was hard to keep up, but every once and while Cyrus' hook would land and he would be able to pull himself in to strike.

Eventually, the town started to shrink below them as Cyrus and the Ice Queen continued to ascend into the air, and Cyrus was definitely the worse for it- his breathing quickened to make up for the thin air and his wings beat hard to keep him up in the air, but the Ice Queen was bleeding now, a thin bluish fluid that froze in the air, sending crystals flying through the air.

Eventually, he struck the creature down, and the body disintegrated into a great plume of snow, leaving behind a pale-skinned girl with hair and clothes like blue ice. Immediately, she started to fall, and Cyrus dove to catch her before trying to get his descent under control, managing to turn a dive into a great gyre that circled the village and gave Cyrus the scenic view as he carried the girl down to the ground.

Cyrus dropped their newest guest into Francisca's waiting arms and started looking for the nearest bed, knowing full well that Abigail would force him to get some rest if he didn't get to it himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So why is Plantera named Aria? It's ya boi Taxonomy back it again. Snapdragons, a plant that bears a remarkable similarity to Plantera, were once in the family Scrophul-aria-ceae. Veronica would have also worked due to different reasons, but that was the Zoologist's name so RIP. I'm imagining Aria's outfit as something like a seifuku, a Japanese school uniform, but of the long-skirted, sukeban/delinquent girl variety.
> 
> So that's all the buildup for that classic, the Christmas special. I hope to get it out before the holiday itself. After that, the next trope I really plan on indulging in is the beach episode, which is going to be around Fishron. It's going to be soon, but I might fit in a Golem or Empress chapter first.
> 
> As always, tell me what you think!


	12. The Christmas Special

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now Presenting: A very special episode. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my fic. Despite the name of the chapter being something like Christmas Special, there is gonna be some plot progression, even if there are no fights.
> 
> Happy holidays everyone! Stay safe out there.

Cyrus had a very nebulous understanding of Christmas, all things considered. His memories were faint at best, and only really gave him an idea of the aesthetics of the celebration- green and red, a big decorated tree, presents, and all that. Of course, there was probably a lot more depth to it than that, although their resident "expert" Harold probably wasn't the best person to get a deep understanding of the holiday from, given that he had a vested interest in selling as much stuff as possible.

The ghist of the holiday was gift giving and charity, along with spending time with family, and while no one in the village had real biological family around (with the possible exception of the Twins?) they were a fairly tight knit community. Even if they didn't exactly fit the definition of the holiday, everyone was fairly excited, especially given that they had a lot of new guests for their little celebration.

Three new guests all at once had to be some sort of record, and Cyrus had to move out of the sickroom even if Abigail wanted to keep an eye on him, as for the very first time they had reached maximum occupancy. Of course, Cyrus certainly wasn't lacking for nursing or care...

* * *

"Now I need you to move over just a little more…"

"Like this?"

"Yes, that's perfect. Now just sit back and relax."

"Ahhhh…"

Visca flushed. Whatever… degeneracy was going on in there, she couldn't let it continue! She wouldn't let Medulla get to Cyrus first! Wait, no! She was just going to make sure that Cyrus wouldn't be corrupted by Medulla's pernicious charms!

She pulled open the door ready to put a stop to whatever was going on in the bathroom… to find Medulla sitting behind Cyrus, carefully cleaning the parts of Cyrus' back and wings that were impossible for him to reach. Of course, this sort of bathing couldn't be done fully clothed, and Visca felt her cheeks heating up as she caught an eyeful of Cyrus' chest.

Medulla glared at her from behind Cyrus' icy wings, which looked majestic as usual, even if the effect was mitigated a little by the soap bubbles from Medulla's cleaning. "Hello, Visca. Did you have some business with us, or do you just enjoy slamming doors open?"

"Uhh, well… ahhh…" Why was she like this? Well, she knew the reason behind her sudden lack of proper speech, the issue was the way Cyrus left her tongue tied.

Medulla sighed. "Well, if you're here… grab a towel and start cleaning. The wings are incredible pain to wash, and I'd rather have you cleaning than gawking."

"I was not-"

"Grab a towel, please."

Cyrus' wings could be taken off and reattached at will, but he decided to keep them on almost full time, just to make sure he was always ready to face something unexpected (like the Frost Moon incident). It would probably be easier to clean the wings if they were just taken off his back and cleaned separated by Cyrus' paranoia wouldn't allow it, in addition to his dislike of the feeling of loosing two limbs.

They managed to finish cleaning Cyrus' wings without any really issue, although the conversation was dead.

* * *

Francisca would be one of the first to admit that she didn't have the greatest understanding of social nuances, but if she had to field an educated guess, jumping up and down in the middle of a door frame was unusual.

"Miss Cthylla, is there a reason for you jumping up and down right now?"

Cthylla turned, and Francisca could see the bough of a plant in her hands, with vibrant green leaves and small white berries. "I'm trying to hang this mistletoe. Nissa gave me some, but I can't jump high enough to get it onto to the door frame."

Francisca nodded. "May I help you with that then?" Cthylla looked up at the door frame again and sighed before handing over the sprig of mistletoe. Francisca had a number of extensions built into her arm, and one of them allowed her to properly hang the plant.

"I must ask if there is a reason behind the hanging of this plant, Miss Cthylla? Or is it like the other decorations which are just for the sake of aesthetics?"

"Oh, you're supposed to kiss someone if you meet them under a sprig of mistletoe… I suppose there's only one person I'd prefer to run into, but it's not like I couldn't kiss Cyrus any time I wanted…" As Cthylla pondered over how useful the mistletoe was for someone in a committed relationship, Francisca also thought for a few moments.

"Well then… Do we kiss now?" That question snapped Cthylla out of her contemplation and gave her face a rosy flush.

"No!"

Francisca looked up at the mistletoe again. "Am I misunderstanding what you meant then? We are both under a sprig of mistletoe, so I assumed…"

"Well usually yes, but… I'm in a relationship, so I can't! That's it!" Cthylla rushed off and left Francisca to ponder human social norms.

* * *

The first of their new guests to wake up was the one who came from the giant Christmas tree, the brunette with the green coat. When she finally woke up, she opened her eyes to reveal a pair of hazel irises which were complemented by a warm smile.

"Hello. I'm Picea, and I assume you folks were the ones who put a stop to my old form?"

Cyrus took her hand and helped her to her feet, and she swayed a little before gaining a solid footing. "Thank you kindly, Mister…"

"Cyrus. I'm Cyrus and the nurse who looked after you is Abigail."

"Well thank you very much, Miss Abigail. I appreciate you looking after me while I was… indisposed."

"It's nothing. Say, could you tell us about the others?" Cyrus asked, and when Picea's brow furrowed in confusion he gestured to the other two occupied beds.

"Ahhh, them… The one in the red dress with the white fur trim? Her name is Nicola, and the other girl, the one with the ice dress, her name is Crista. I think."

"Well Abigail says they're probably not going to wake up for a while, so would you like me to show you around?"

* * *

Picea seemed happy with the village, although the real highlight of the tour for her was the massive Christmas tree they had managed to set up.

"I suppose this explains my previous form? I know us monsters can tend to get a little… wacky, but I just didn't get why I used to be a giant tree covered in baubles until I saw this."

"That's strange. A lot of us- well myself and the other girls that came from defeated monsters have a similar trend of not having perfect knowledge. I still can't remember a lot of things, but I guess you girls have a reason and I don't. I just woke up in the forest one day with some vague ideas about life but no hard memories."

"Nothing at all?"

"I can't remember a thing before I woke up in this land, despite knowing a lot of other random things. I seem to remember what Christmas is, but I can't remember ever celebrating one."

Picea frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that. Have you ever searched for any way to restore your memory?"

"I've asked Abigail, but she had no idea how to approach the problem. Just about everyone I've asked and every dusty dungeon tome I've read don't say anything. I'm assuming that I'll probably never get my memories back, if I had them in the first place, and I've decided to live my life as best I can anyways."

Picea was silent, and Cyrus honestly couldn't blame her. There weren't many good ways to respond to that, and it was something of an unintentional conversation ender whenever he got onto the subject.

After a bit more awkward silence, Picea began to fan herself with her hands. "Phew. It wasn't so bad at first, but now that I've stayed in this room for a while, I'm getting awfully hot." She began to pull off her pine-green coat, revealing a very slim figure wrapped in stylish clothes. The most distinctive feature of her outfit was a cravat the same color as her coat, which still evoked a tree like image even if the coat was gone.

She smiled at him. "I'm glad that some of my first memories in this new form will be Christmas with everyone here. I can already tell this is the start of something wonderful."

* * *

Picea integrated herself into the town fairly quickly, and she and Aria got along like a house on fire, likely due to their shared plant-ish heritage. After a bit of needling, Cyrus agreed to work on a greenhouse for the two, after being reassured that Nicola and Crista still seemed to be deep in sleep and were unlikely to wake up immediately.

Building in the cold was always unenjoyable and it was only made worse by his lack of a leg. Sure, his wings more than made up for his leg on a mobility level, having to bunnyhop around to work made the wings less epic and more comical. Cyrus was excited for the end result though, as their supply of herbs, with the exception of Shiverthorn for obvious reasons, was running low. They could grow plants in pots of course, that's where they got the seeds, but to grow the plants in large quantities they needed a greenhouse.

Cyrus' unusual construction abilities meant the thing was done in under a day, although Nissa had joined Picea and Aria in waiting for the new greenhouse to be finished. Cyrus was still a little surprised that Nissa hadn't changed her outfit at all for the cold winter, especially considering that they had a tailor nearby (although a small part of Cyrus was very glad she decided to keep the leaves-and-vines aesthetic).

They got to gardening rather quickly, and Cyrus did had to admit there was something special about the greenhouse, the way the snow gently dusted the glass while they stayed warm and safe, a little bastion of life and heat in the cold (well, ignoring the glowing lights of the village, but the greenhouse was on the outskirts of their little complex). Gardening was one of the few things Cyrus really couldn't manage to do no matter how hard he tried, and he was both grateful for the girls and admired them for their gardening skills.

* * *

Speaking of skill, Cyrus decided to visit Lacrima next, and found her talking to Francisca.

"Okay, so do you think you understand the process now?"

"I believe so." Francisca was sitting in front of Lacrima's loom, a complex assemblage of wood that Cyrus made for Lacrima (or rather, Lacrima told him how to make it. He didn't understand anything about the machine, even if he built it piece by piece).

"Then start, just like how I showed you."

Suddenly, Francisca burst into a flurry of movement, her four arms blurring as she wove with tremendous speed, so fast that Cyrus almost worried she would break the loom, and Lacrima seemed to share the sentiment, looking on with wide eyes as Francisca worked at an incredible pace.

After a few minutes, Francisca finished with the long segment of deep red cloth. "Is this work acceptable?"

Lacrima let out something like a squeak. "You're doing… just great. Wonderful. Why don't you start working on the next bolt of cloth? We'll need a lot of red fabric for Christmas. Now if you'll excuse me…"

She walked off, upset, and while Francisca got back to weaving, Cyrus followed Lacrima.

* * *

Cyrus found Lacrima sitting down in a corner of their library (if their collection of ruined books from the dungeon could be called a library), and Cyrus sat down next to her.

"Are you alright?"

Lacrima looked up at him and sniffled a little. "Not really, no. I try to share the one thing that I'm good at with Francisca, and she beats me at it, like everything else."

Cyrus sighed. Honestly, he really couldn't fully understand her feelings of inadequacy, as he didn't have another person that was basically purpose built to be better than himself, while it could definitely be argued that at least in their boss forms, Francisca was superior to Lacrima in almost every way (not that he would say something that stupid to her face).

"That doesn't mean she could somehow replace you as a person, you know. Everyone here appreciates you for-"

"Can you stop it with that cliched 'we like you for you' thing? You like me for me, but not enough to go on and-" She flushed. "Forget I said that."

"Wait, you like me?"

Her face was red and her eyes were watery, but she still managed to glare at him. "Of course I do! Do you think I was just platonically touching your face during the bonfire?"

"Well…"

"Of course I fall for the most oblivious man on the planet. Good grief, how did Medulla and Annelida get through to you?"

"They just asked me if I'd like to start dating them."

"Of course! Of course. Did Cthylla just ask you too?"

"Well she asked Annelida first…"

"Is it as simple as asking?"

"Well, you'd have to get a thumbs up from the other girls, but basically, yeah."

"Maybe you should consider making a membership form."

"Oh come on, I'm not that popular!"

Lacrima sighed as they walked to meet the rest of Cyrus' harem, even if he refused to call a spade a spade.

* * *

After a bit of conversation, Lacrima joined the group, and already started plotting something to do with all that red fabric she acquired. Cyrus was a little concerned considering the excited giggles he would occasionally hear coming from his girls, and decided that he should probably go and check on the girls in the sickroom and see if they were any closer to waking up.

"Any news, Abigail?"

"Seems like they might wake up soon, but I also thought they would wake up soon yesterday. This could take a while."

Cyrus pulled out a chair and sat down before chuckling. "Sometimes it feels like I've spent more nights here than in my own room, or at least I've woken up in this room quite often."

Abigail turned to him and sighed. "You shouldn't be taking that so lightly, you know. Everyone's worried about you, and I worry that you won't come back."

Cyrus couldn't really think of a good response to that before she continued, stepping closer to him. "I know I act a little stand-offish sometimes, but I hope you know it comes out of a good place. I'm not sure if I could bear it if you went out there and died because you weren't prepared. In fact, I thin-"

Before Abigail could finish her sentence and make Cyrus' life even more complicated, Nicola, the girl with the Santa like aesthetic, awoke with a gasp. "Where am I?"

Cyrus walked over and reassured the girl. "You're in a sickroom in our little village, and we promise, you're safe."

She turned and looked at him with a pair of peculiar eyes, the color of amber. "Okay… Well, I'm Nicola, but you can call me anytime."

Cyrus cringed a little at that, but moved on quickly. "Well, I'm Cyrus and this is Abigail." Nicola nodded and stood up and stretched in a way that did… _interesting_ things to her dress, which was already pretty short. Averting his eyes, Cyrus turned to the other ex-monster girl in the room, just in time to lock eyes with a pair of startlingly blue eyes, as beautiful as an ice floe.

Cyrus grinned. "Oh, and you're awake! Welcome to town. I'm Cyrus."

She stared at him for a few moments before getting to her feet. "Crista." Her tone didn't invite further conversation, and Cyrus didn't feel like attempting to break the ice at the moment.

"Well, the least I can offer you two girls is a tour of the place."

Crista gave a curt nod and Nicola grinned. "Why, I would love the pleasure of the your company, Cyrus. Perhaps you could give me the extended tour?"

"I'm taken, so could you please calm down a little?"

Cyrus felt a chill go down his spine as her smile only got bigger, and he knew in his gut that she didn't see that as a reason to stop- she saw it as a challenge.

* * *

Their two new guests were very tiring, although for different reasons. Eventually, after giving an extensive tour (to both girls, as Cyrus certainly didn't feel like spending any time alone with Nicola) he went down to dinner with the two girls in tow.

Cyrus took a seat and to his relief his girlfriends claimed all the seats near him before Nicola could claim one. Before Cyrus could start to wonder where Lacrima would sit, she plopped herself down in his lap, and Cyrus could hear Harold chuckling as a few whispers broke out. Dammit, Cyrus certainly didn't sign up to be some sort of entertainment!

Of course, Cyrus couldn't stand up and walk over to teach Harold a lesson for rather obvious reasons, and he really couldn't stay mad with Lacrima on his lap. Of course, there were other things that he couldn't do with a girl on his lap.

"Not to say that I don't appreciate it Lacrima, but I really can't eat with you sitting there."

"Then I'll just feed you!" She gave him a smile and wriggled in his lap a little as she turned to cut a portion of his food for him.

Cyrus froze, as he felt himself… reacting to Lacrima's presence, and he knew that she had to feel it too. She turned to him and smirked a little. "Apparently, you're very appreciative. Now open wide!"

Too mortified to complain, Cyrus complied, and he could see Annelida giving him a smug smile as his face flushed. Suddenly driven by a need to not be the only embarrassed person in the room, Cyrus managed to catch Lacrima's lips in a brief kiss as she turned to feed him another bite. She froze with shock, and Cyrus had to quickly wrap his arms around her waist before she tumbled off his lap.

After pulling back, Lacrima's face was as red as her hat, and she as she tried to give a response, Cthylla scooted over. "I call dibs on his lap next!"

Oh no.

* * *

The day afterwards was Christmas Eve, and Cyrus decided to take a bit of a day trip, in large part because the girls shooed him out while they worked on some project of theirs. Eventually, Cyrus decided a trip underground would be in his best interest, mostly to escape the bitter cold that covered most of the surface.

After quite a bit of meandering through caverns, he saw a faint blue glow in the distance, and he carefully approached, keeping his eyes open for any vicious monsters or traps. Something that glowed but wasn't lava was probably a bad sign, but when he entered the cavern, he was awestruck.

It was truly massive, nearly a dozen times his height and filled with massive tree-like structures made of thick white and blue mushrooms. Upon closer observation, the entire cavern was basically just mushrooms- they sprouted off the ground and were the source of the blue glow, and what he thought was blue grass was actually dense mycelium. The cavern was strangely warm and had a crisp sort of smell, and Cyrus wondered how all these fungi could grow without a massive amount of dead matter before he realized- magic.

A wizard did it may not be the most satisfying of explanations, but Cyrus really didn't find the idea of researching the magic behind mushroom blooms interesting. The magic that caused the cavern had a more unfortunate side effect though, as it created vicious wildlife that were a strange mix of fungus and animal. They weren't too hard to fend off, but he was reminded once again to keep his eyes open.

It was a little tricky to navigate caves with wings, but he managed to survive mostly off of using his hooks, and the massive fungal trees gave him a lot of surfaces to grapple from. After landing on top of one particularly sturdy looking mushroom, he scanned the cavern for any more creatures when he spotted a little worm, mostly gray with a blue tail, and he was suddenly reminded of one of Garret's notes:

_The Truffle Worm is a small creature in the underground, notable for its speed and evasiveness, although its greatest property is serving as bait for fishing, where it serves as the only bait capable of summoning the strongest monster of the sea. It is exceedingly rare, and should be caught even if one doesn't plan on fighting immediately._

Nodding, Cyrus stood up and let himself fall over the edge of the mushroom's cap, kicking off as he fell and tucking his wings behind him to maximize his speed. Despite that, the worm caught on and tried to move out of the way, nearly managing to burrow underground before Cyrus snatched the creature's tail and pulled it up.

After recovering from his wild dive and landing, he pulled out a health potion from his bag and poured it out on the ground. He knew that Abigail worked hard to make them, but he didn't have any other bottles on hand, and didn't trust himself not to loose the critter, which wriggled and writhed as it attempted to escape his hands.

With that done, Cyrus decided to head home and make sure the worm was somewhere safe before starting to work on a fishing rod. He wasn't a very big fisher, but he was intrigued by this mysterious monster of the seas. At the very least, they could get a beach trip out of it, which sounded wonderful after days of snow.

* * *

When Cyrus returned home, he hid the truffle worm away somewhere secure and then went back to wandering around the village searching for something to do, before he remembered the hot springs they found a while back, which would really help with the chill.

Cyrus couldn't help but marvel at the teleporter, which allowed him to travel incredible distances without even having to step outside. He was under the impression that some of the other villagers would occasionally visit, but they hadn't made a big trip of it recently. Cyrus checked to make sure that nobody had say, left clothes before going in, in a stunning display of self preservation instincts.

Before he even entered the large cavern that housed their hot spring, he could hear a sound like rushing air, and when he opened the door he saw Regina flying through the air, executing complex spins and loops. Cyrus linked to think himself as an above average flyer (not that they had more than 3 people with wings around) but watching her execute complex aerial maneuvers he couldn't even name made him feel a little embarrassed.

After a few minutes of watching in dead silence, Regina seemed to notice him watching, and went into some sort of complex spinning dive that brought her perilously close to the surface before she pulled up, and she flying so low that when her wings flapped down, their tips would dip into the water, sending fine sprays of water into the air. Just before it looked like she was about to slam into him, she rose up and snapped her wings out to their full extent, slowing her down enough to come to a gentle landing just in front of Cyrus.

"What do you think? I come here to practice sometimes."

"That was incredible! How do you do it?"

"A lot of practice in addition to the thermals this hot spring causes."

"Thermals?"

She giggled a little, and Cyrus couldn't help but feel a little condescended to. "The hot spring heats up the air above it, and hot air rises. It saves you the effort of having to push yourself up with your wings. You'll see birds doing it sometimes, spiraling upwards on a thermal and basically catching a free ride."

"I never knew that…"

"Well that's what I gathered when you asked what thermals were. There was no reason for you to know something like that, and Bea's flight knowledge is very different from my flight knowledge, as my wings are more bird like."

"Can you show me a few tricks?"

She smiled at him. "Why of course I can."

* * *

Crashing into the water wasn't the worst part, honestly. The impact hurt, definitely, but the water was fairly warm; however, when he climbed out of the water onto solid ground to launch off from, the chill would suddenly make all that wetness a very bad thing.

Launching from the water was one of the few feats Cyrus couldn't manage to execute fully, a problem that was only exacerbated because Regina couldn't teach him how to do it, for rather obvious slime related reasons. The water so much more dense than air, and any attempts to try to turn a jump from the water into full fledged flight usually turned into horrible belly flops, in addition to exhausting him.

"Maybe we should try something a little less… futile?" Cyrus cringed a little at that. Sure, it was true, but she wasn't supposed to just go out and say it! "You made a bit more progress than you think, Cyrus, and you're very determined to work at it, but maybe we should start heading home? It's starting to get late and we don't need a case of hypothermia for Christmas."

Cyrus nodded and headed towards one of the changing rooms, and he suddenly felt very grateful that one of the first things Lacrima ever did for him was make him an extra set of clothes. As he finished getting all of the wet clothes off of him, he heard the door opening, and muttered a curse.

He turned to see Regina at the door, who seemed genuinely shocked to see him standing there, and she looked at him for a few seconds before blushing slamming the door shut with a shouted "Sorry!"

Cyrus chuckled a little before getting back to changing. As long as it was an accident, he didn't really see any reason why he should get mad. Yeah, it was an invasion of his privacy, but it was a very small mistake as things went and he didn't see any real reason to get unbelievably angry over it. After more apologies from Regina, the two of them used the teleporter to get back home for dinner.

* * *

Christmas Eve dinner was fairly uneventful, if extremely embarrassing, and Cyrus went to bed early because he knew deep in his heart that tomorrow would be exhausting. He wasn't sure what gifts the others got, but Cyrus had decided to just get a lot of chocolate for everyone with "help" from Harold. When he closed his eyes to sleep, he could still hear his wallet screaming.

Cyrus woke up later than he usually did, and stumbled his way downstairs, still in a bit of a sleepy daze, trying his best to balance on his one leg and using his wings to stabilize himself as best he could. The moment he reached the room with the Christmas tree, one of the twins rushed over to him, and her red eyes told him it was Tina.

"Cyrus! We've finally finished your prosthetic, sir."

"I'm pleased to hear that, and please, don't call me sir."

"All right… sir."

Cyrus groaned.

Cyrus certainly didn't expect his Christmas morning to be spent sitting in a chair while Meredith and Judith made final checks, but Cyrus was relieved to get some functionality back in his leg. He grew concerned when one of the Twins stepped out and pulled Abigail in.

"Umm, what do we need Abigail for? I certainly hope I won't need medical assistance."

Judith refused to look him in the eyes as she answered his question. "Ahh, well… we're going to need to do a bit of surgery to attach the leg, and while I'm good with machinery, I can't say I won't do more harm than good."

Cyrus nodded as Meredith finished one last adjustment on the leg and then carried it to him. It certainly wasn't the prettiest looking aesthetically, with lots of plain steel and bronze, but the prospect of being able to walk properly made it made it just about the most beautiful thing in the world to Cyrus (not counting his girlfriends, although he would never be able to say something so unbearably sappy).

Abigail took the mechanical leg and pulled out a scapel, and Cyrus cringed a little.

* * *

It certainly wasn't as bad as Cyrus thought, although he still felt a strange sort of ache from the stump. Ironically, the prosthetic intended to help him walk actually made it harder: it threw off his sense of balance, which just started to recover from the loss of his leg and unfortunately it wasn't one of the fancy prosthetics that the mechanical girls had which allowed them to feel things. Sure, he could tell when he was touching the ground, but he wouldn't be able to notice damage in the same way he would on his other leg.

Of course, that rose the issue of durability, and while the leg was a marvel of engineering, Judith and Meredith warned him that stressing it by putting too much weight on it could possibly break it. What that basically meant was that it would basically snap under his weight the moment he started pulling off the sort of acrobatics he used to fight bosses. He would still have to fight from the air, but at home he could walk around in a way that approached normalcy, although it was definitely clunky.

Cyrus gave everyone he met their appropriate chocolate, but he couldn't find a few people: Annelida, Cthylla, Medulla, Lacrima, and Visca. The first four were of course linked by dating Cyrus, which would sort of provide an explanation for where they had gone- they were plotting something together, but Visca was unusual. Unless… Visca went to join them, and asked to get in on the relationship as well?

That may have been a little presumptuous of Cyrus, but after sitting down and thinking about it, it seemed fairly obvious that Visca was at least a little interested. Of course, she could just be with them to lend a helping hand with whatever they were plotting, and Cyrus wasn't sure if he was over correcting for the obliviousness Lacrima told him about- was he reading into it too much, or was this him breaking through layers of density?

Well, he supposed that really didn't matter if he actually couldn't manage to locate them, and he eventually started to wonder around, asking anyone he bumped into if they had any idea where they were. After Nicola nearly managed to lead him under a doorway with a sprig of mistletoe above it, Cyrus started navigated the hallways with a lot more caution, determined not to get caught up under one of the little parasitic plants.

Eventually, it was Francisca who pointed him in the direction of Lacrima's little workshop/spinning room, and he headed towards the room, feeling a strange mix of dread and excitement.

* * *

Cyrus would occasionally visit Lacrima's room to get his clothes mended after a nasty fight, or to get a new set of clothes, if the fancy struck him, so he knew how to find the room easily. Before entering, he stopped to knock and got a response almost immediately.

He could recognize Annelida's voice even through the door. "Who is it?"

"It's Cyrus. I had gifts, and wanted to know if I could come in."

"Just give us a few more minutes, alright? We're getting your gifts ready." Cyrus wasn't sure if the liked the sound of that or not, but he had a few moments to mull over it before Annelida gave the okay and opened the door.

Cyrus stepped inside, and nearly choked. He was pretty used to the girls wearing basically the same outfit every day, usually what they wearing when the boss they came from was defeated. Cthylla had her white dress with hints of red, Medulla's lab coat, etc, so any outfit changes would have probably surprised him, but these outfits in particularly were especially shocking.

They were rather like what Nicola wearing, a short red dress with white fur trim, accompanied by a Santa hat. Cyrus was once again reminded that he was surrounded by very pretty girls, and that he had never seen some of them in short skirts before. He spent a few long moments just staring before he suddenly realized that one particular pair of legs was… slimy?

"Wait… Visca?" Cyrus looked up to see the face of the King of the Slimes, which was a deep purple shade due to her blush (did slimes have blood, or was it like a sort of chameleon thing?).

"Yeah…" She refused to look him in the eye and was twiddling with the fur hem of her skirt in a way that Cyrus thought was extremely adorable.

"She wanted join us!" Cthylla chirped as she wrapped her arms around Cyrus from behind. "In fact, there was something she wanted to ask…"

The purple blush was starting to spread down to her arms now, but she worked up the courage to look him in the eyes. "Well, I already asked the other girls and they said yes…" When she mentioned asking the other girls, Cyrus saw Medulla rolling her eyes, and figured she was the hardest sell, even if she did say yes. "So would you like to date me too?"

Of course. He called it! That certainly didn't make it a bad thing, though. "Of course, yes." Visca gave him a smile and came in for a kiss, which was certainly made weird by her general sliminess (not that he minded).

After pulling back, Cyrus sighed. "You girls went to all this effort, and all I got you is some chocolate. I'm sorry."

Annelida fished one of the bars of chocolate out of his pocket and looked at it for a second. "It looks good, and I know you must have paid Harold a fortune for this…" she moved in close and leaned in for a kiss. "I'm sure you could make it up to us somehow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Picea is the genus that spruce trees belong to, Nicola is a feminine version of Nicholas, and Crista is basically the word crystal. Also, I'm very happy to have fulfilled my mention of Santa outfits back in the AN of Chapter 8. They are king tier fanservice. (NOTE: this is an AN I removed while moving this story from FFN) 
> 
> I was considering adding a mistletoe scene between Cyrus and one of the girls that wasn't dating him. I might make it an omake or something if people find it interesting? If you want that scene, just gib feedback. I love comments.
> 
> If you couldn't tell from the hot springs bit, I really hate the whole accidental peak and then getting violently assaulted trope harem anime are so fond of. I get that it's slapstick, but it never feels funny and in all honesty I couldn't date a girl who thinks hitting me is okay. Tangent aside, please tell me what you think about the story!
> 
> Next chapter will either be Fishron beach episode or a triple feature of some kind focusing on enemies that Cyrus hasn't faced yet. I've been thinking about including the Lost Girl/Nymph, the Flying Dutchman, maybe the Old One's Army? Dragon girls are hot, but I'm worried about character bloat. I'd appreciate some reader opinions about what you enjoy in this story, what I should focus on, etc.
> 
> Happy Holidays, and since I'm probably not gonna drop another chapter in this year, I wish you all a splendid start to your 2021!


	13. Other Fish in the Sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to today's episode, where I cry bitter tears due only having one chapter title to put a shitty joke into. Deadliest Catch, Something Fishy, What a Catch, Fish Out of Water, etc.
> 
> Also, as of this chapter we have officially surpassed the NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words. (At least, by FFN reckoning, which includes ANs) Took a bit longer than one month, but I'm so excited to have gone through this journey with you all. We are officially at short novel lengths here, folks.
> 
> Anyways, Beach Episode time

After a… thoroughly enjoyable Christmas celebration, Cyrus sat down to think about what he should do next. Normally, he would go out and pick a fight so he could he progress, but he wasn't feeling like getting mauled, at least not so soon. Anyways, some of the girls were working on a set of armor made from the strange green metal of the jungle (apparently called chlorophyte) and and the great turtle shells he had gathered from the area.

Unfortunately, making armor took a while, so he decided to work on a side project: a teleporter to the beach. Judith tried explaining exactly how the teleporter worked to no avail, but eventually just told Cyrus to hook two pads up with wire and let her do the rest.

Of course, you couldn't just leave wire sitting on the ground or just lay it on top of the snow, and would optimally be underground. As the town's number one excavator, Cyrus got to work and laid miles of wire until he eventually reached a particularly nice strip of beach and set up the teleporter as best he could.

While digging through the night, Cyrus crossed the Hallow, and Cyrus had to admit there was a sort of unearthly beauty to it- the moon a fierce crescent in the sky, sending pale light onto the blue grass and swaying technicolor trees. Even at night, the Hallow kept up a bright and happy appearance- even the bugs were beautiful!

One particular critter caught his eye- a butterfly that shone with bright colors, bright pinks, blues, and yellows coming from its wings, as thin as fine lace. It was incredibly delicate, and Cyrus felt an overwhelming urge in his gut that a creature like this should protected, should be kept safe- and he carefully pulled out a jar to catch it in.

Unlike the truffle worm which darted away as soon as Cyrus moved, the butterfly seemed happy to drift idly, and didn't even panic as Cyrus caught it in a jar. After making sure there were holes for air, Cyrus carefully secured the little creature in his bag- he certainly didn't want it getting hurt. As he got back to digging, he had a strange feeling that Garrett had written something about brightly colored bugs, but he couldn't remember.

* * *

After using the mirror to go home and getting Judith to do the final checks, Cyrus started to work on some housing by the shore. He definitely liked the village, but the ocean was a nice change of pace, and he could see himself spending a lot of here, especially considering that they still had months of winter to go.

After constructing a complex that satisfied him, Cyrus went back home via the teleporter, only to find himself being led somewhere by… one of the twins. He couldn't really tell without getting a look at their eyes, and particular twin dragging him seemed completely focused on her destination.

"So, could you tell me where we're going?"

"We finished your suit of armor, and we want you to test it immediately."

Eventually they reached the workshop and pushed the door open to reveal Judith, Meredith, and the other twin, the one with vibrant green eyes- Asta, meaning that the girl who pulled him around was Tina. All three girls were working on the finishing touches of a… strange suit armor.

There were hints of the deep green cholorophyte metal in places, gleaming around the seams of the armor as well as composing the gauntlets and boots. He could see the careful adjustments made in order to fit his artificial leg, although that certainly wasn't the most distinctive part of the outfit.

A majority of the armor was made with turtle shell layered with chlorophyte, with a mostly intact shell forming the torso while the shells were divided into pieces to make up the helmet, greaves, and armor for the upper arms.

Cyrus looked at the armor for a few moments longer before turning to the girls that made it. "It's incredible. Thank you all so much."

Both Judith and Meredith smiled proudly, satisfied with yet another job well done, but the Twins flushed and started muttering about how they didn't really help that much. Cyrus rolled his eyes a little before starting to figure out how to make his wings cooperate with this new set of armor.

* * *

After managing to get his new turtle armor to fit properly, Cyrus left the workshop- only to bump into Aria, sending her sprawling. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Cyrus gave her a hand which she gladly took.

Aria gave him a shy smile as he pulled her to her feet, and after brushing a few bits of dirt and sand (that Cyrus had probably tracked in earlier, woops) off her long skirt she started patting down her pockets for a few moments before pulling out a key with a curious sun pattern on the deep orange grip. "This is just a little something I forgot to give to you. It unlocks the temple in the jungle, you know the one?"

Cyrus nodded before Aria continued. "Oh, you do? Good. I think the next enemy you'll need to face lurks somewhere with there." He took the key and pocketed it.

Before Cyrus could wander off, she suddenly seemed to remember something. "Oh, and Crista wanted to talk to you. You know, ice girl?" Aria gave an involuntary shiver. "I don't remember the specifics, but I think she had something to give you. Anyways, I'm going to see if I can find a nice window to sun myself."

* * *

Crista also had a gift for Cyrus, although it certainly couldn't fit in his pocket. It was a long spear, easily taller than Cyrus with a heavy head that almost reminded him of a snowflake. The spear's tip was made of incredibly cold ice, and a few experimental thrusts and strikes send blasts of freezing winter air that could splinter wood (and he managed to make more work for himself. Woops.)

It really was a massive spear though- Cyrus had trouble fitting it through some doorways, and he turned to Crista. "Say, how exactly did you get this? I mean, I can't imagine you managed to hide this in your dress."

"Magic."

"That's not a very satisfying explanation, in all honesty."

"Why ask where the spear comes from and not the random girls?"

"I mean, that's a good question as well, in all honesty."

"Do you think you'll actually get an answer?" Crista shrugged, sending shimmering patterns down the length of her icy dress.

"I can hope, right?"

* * *

As it turned out, there was a lot more to fishing than just a string, a stick, and some bait. After a few failed attempts, Cyrus decided that trying to engineer his own reel was too much work, and asked Harold to get him a decent fishing rod. It was definitely expensive, but it was better than anything Cyrus could have made by himself even if there were a few too many decorative feathers for his taste.

Cyrus decided to get the fight out of the way earlier, before everyone else came down to the beach, and he hoped the fight wouldn't wreck the beach too bad before the others got to enjoy it. Still, just about everyone in town was uncomfortable with Cyrus wandering off to fight a deadly foe on his lonesome, so someone had to accompany him on his little fishing trip.

Unusually, it was Andi who had decided to accompany him to the beach, and as they headed towards the beach teleporter Cyrus looked to her and asked a question. "So… why'd you volunteer to come along? I mean, it's not like I don't appreciate the company…"

"But fishing doesn't seem like the sort of thing I'd be interested in? I'm not interested, but any more time in the village would drive me daft."

"Couldn't you head down to the hotsprings then?"

"I could, if the others didn't insist on turning it into a 'bonding experience'. I just prefer more alone time, is that too much to ask?"

"Not really, I suppose." Cyrus shrugged and flipped the teleporter's switch, causing them both to disappear in a flash of brilliant yellow light.

* * *

The sky was gray and overcast, which certainly didn't seem like a good omen for their beach day, and the fierce wind was surprisingly cold. The uniform gray of the sky contrasted greatly with the churning sea below, white froth contrasting against water so dark blue it looked black. Andi snorted. "What shitty weather."

Cyrus nodded in agreement before pulling out his fishing rod and the bottled truffle worm out. After carefully putting the creature onto the hook, he took a leap and flew into the air, over the choppy sea. No reason to pull up whatever nightmarish sea creature he was going to fight right next to Andi, after all.

After getting suitably far from shore, Cyrus cast the rod and began to glide in circles, trying to save energy for a brutal fight. For a few moments he worried that some other, lesser fish might snap the bait up before he felt a tug on the rod that nearly pulled him out of the sky.

Looking down, Cyrus could see a monstrous fish rising from the waves, before it leapt from the water and began pursuing him using massive fin-like wings. The creature would have looked comical, like something a child would draw in crayon, if not for the fury burning in its cold black eyes and the incredible speed it flew at.

It was a bulky thing with a pig-like nose and ears, although the creature's razor sharp fangs, as long as swords, certainly proved it was no normal hog. It was a sort of aquamarine color, although its fins had deeper blue portions as well. Ripping musculature covered its body, as well as no shortage of scars, and the monster seemed more than happy to exploit its massive size, considering how it was looking to tackle him.

Cyrus pivoted out of the way and drew his spear, and struck the creature with a glancing blow before diving towards the frothy sea. He heard a bellow of pain from behind him but the creature didn't see to pursue, and Cyrus turned to send another gout of cold wind at him only to see it spew… bubbles?

Immediately, he could tell that whatever those bubbles were, they were bad news, and Cyrus began to weave around them, only to nearly get hit by the monster, and his dodge sent him flying into one of the bubbles, which exploded, sending him flying towards the beast's tail, which struck him with incredible force and sent him falling towards the ocean.

* * *

Cyrus opened his eyes and realized he was falling. As he struggled to recover from what could easily be a fatal dive, he realized that one blow from the creature's tail had been enough to knock him unconscious. Fortunately, it didn't seem to have damaged his armor much, although he could feel a bit of delay from artificial leg. Luckily, he had gotten used to fighting without a leg, so it was basically like business as usual.

Of course, all this musing distracted him from the fact that he was falling towards the ocean at a breakneck pace, and Cyrus suddenly realized he wouldn't be able to pull up in time. Looking behind, he could see the massive… fish dragon creature- Fishron? Fishron on his tail. (Cyrus was going to think of it as the Fishron, because he certainly hoped there weren't more of these things)

Fighting Fishron on its own home turf underwater was a pretty stupid idea, but Cyrus had two options: turn his fall into a graceful dive, or turn himself into a human sized skipping stone that bounced across the ocean's surface before finally sinking into the sea. Cyrus certainly didn't feel like reliving the experience of a belly flop any time soon, so he bit the bullet and dove.

After piercing the churning surface of the sea, there was a strange sense of serenity, as fish flitted by and the seagrass swayed gently, uncaring of the gales above the sea. Surprisingly, the massive form of Fishron seemed to fit in rather well- as Cyrus dodged a furious charge, he could see gills on the creature's side, and it moved with surprising grace despite its bulk.

Using his wings in water was exhausting, but it was necessary to even keep up with an aquatic creature. Even some of the normal fish struggled to keep out of the way of this strange monster- one of its saber like teeth nicked a passing fish, dyeing the water with red blood and orange roe.

Moving a spear was harder underwater, although the projectiles it launched seemed completely unaffected, although Cyrus noticed that the spear started to cool with frequent use, until it felt like his hands were freezing, and he could see ice crystals starting to form on the spear's body. Cyrus landed another strike on Fishron before the burning in his lungs became unbearable and he surfaced, pulling in a deep breath of the salty air before diving back under. Before going back under, Cyrus could see the bad weather had turned downright dangerous- churning flumes of water danced on the ocean's surface and the sky looked black, so thick were the clouds.

Cyrus played a delicate game of cat and mouse with the creature, darting out of the way of its wild lunges and explosive bubbles. It was slow to turn, so Cyrus found success in couching his spear into the sea floor and letting Fishron charge into his waiting spear point. Just as Cyrus was starting to get a hang on this whole situation, he saw dozens of sleek forms dive into the water from above, sleek sharks with pig like ears- Cyrus somehow knew these were the monster's spawn, and they swarmed him.

Cyrus' spear was very long, and because of this it was very practically useless at close range, unless he wanted to lightly tap the raging sharks with the staff of his spear. They seemed to be bothered by the intense cold of the spear, but not enough to stop from pursuing him. Fortunately, his armor seemed tough enough to resist their fangs, even if Cyrus would probably have nightmares about the gnashing teeth entering his visor and even managing to nick his nose.

Suddenly, his gut screamed at him to dodge, to move, and Cyrus dug the end of the spear into the sand before using it to basically pole vault and lift himself above the mass of sharks- just as Fishron itself swept by, its bulk and razor sharp fangs turning its own spawn into a mess of blood in the ocean water.

As Fishron reeled up for another charge, Cyrus send more gusts of freezing air which cut into the creature's flesh and tore at its gills. Hopefully, damaging the creature's gills could make it a little less… vivacious, but if Cyrus had learned anything from his life so far, doing more damage would only make it angrier and cause it to pull out all the stops. Of course, the moment he started that the creature might have some tricks hidden up its non-existent sleeves, it started moving erratically.

It began to swim in a massive loop, and Cyrus swam to the surface to grab another quick breath before diving back down- only to get hit by a fusillade of bubbles that nearly blew him out of the water. They dazed Cyrus, and he had only moments to recover before it charged him again, its eyes burning a terrible shade of yellow, and Cyrus darted out of the way as it flew from the water, shifting from swimming to flying with incredible grace. It moved through the harsh rains and fierce gales as easily as it swam through the water, and dove towards Cyrus once more.

Fortunately, Cyrus' attacks seemed more effective now, as if the creature had let down its guard, but any extra damage he did was counteracted by a massive increase in speed- as thick banks of ink black fog rolled in on the surface, Fishron became a blur, and he practically lost it entirely whenever it surfaced, with his only warning of a coming attack being a burning pair of eyes.

Occasionally, the creature would manage to land a glancing blow on Cyrus, usually catching his spear and sending him spinning through the water like a top and nearly tearing his weapon from his hands. Cyrus could feel aches and pain across his body where Fishron managed to make contact, and he knew they would develop into some truly fierce bruises once this was over and done with.

His spear was already covered in a gleaming coat of ice, making even the plainest parts of the weapon gleam and shine in the pale gray light that leaked through the dense banks of clouds. The growths of ice hadn't seemed to dull the effectiveness of the spear, but it was bitterly cold in his hands now, so much so that he was worried the cold would make his gauntlets freeze up.

Fishron let out a bellow of unadulterated fury and seemed to vanish into thin air, the only remainder of its presence a pair of malevolent eyes, burning with the fury of the stars. Whenever it dove into the water, it left great clouds of white bubbles, which contrasted against the uniform blackness of the sky. Cyrus certainly hope that Andi was okay- he couldn't imagine this weather was too good for anyone staying on shore.

Suddenly, he felt a disturbance in the water behind him and turned to see a pair of bright yellow lights rushing at him with tremendous speed. He was sure that the creature had somehow teleported- but that wasn't important right now. Looking at the glowering pair of eyes, Cyrus guessed where the creature's mouth would be and pointed his spear-

And suddenly there was a tremendous cloud of bubbles, and Cyrus felt two things crash into him- not sharp fangs, but a soft bag made of some waterproof substance, and a girl. She was very similar to her previous form- hair a beautiful shade of aquamarine that matched the color of a pair of wings, although they were almost fin like, smooth and filmy instead of being composed of feathers. Cyrus supposed that her choice of garb was rather fortunate considering they were underwater: it was a relatively modest one piece swimsuit in aquamarine, paired with a shark tooth necklace and a beautiful bracelet inlaid with sea green jade.

Cyrus grabbed onto the girl and the bag before swimming to the surface as quickly as he could. When he broke the surface, he saw that the sky had cleared and the seas had calmed. At the very least, their beach day hadn't been ruined, although Cyrus wasn't sure he would feel up for any swimming later today- he had managed to move pretty far away from the shore while fighting Fishron. At least it wasn't quite noon yet, so there was still a fair amount of daylight left.

* * *

Andi was waiting by the shoreline, and her clothes were soaked. "You're back, and you fished up another one."

"You could have stayed inside or something…"

"And get everyone pissed at me when you managed to get yourself mauled? No thanks. Find a beach chair to dump her in, I guess."

"Well today wasn't too bad, actua-"

"Take off that armor and I'll grab some disinfectant."

After shrugging off his turtle armor, Cyrus did have to admit he probably should take the rest of the day pretty easy- he could already see welts starting to form and trickles of blood from many small cuts- both from shark bites and bits of shrapnel sent flying by exploding bubbles. His artificial leg wasn't looking too hot either- it was choked with seabed sediment, and he imagined the salt air wouldn't be doing his leg many favors.

Andi come out, a bottle of some antiseptic smelling liquid that she started applying to cuts, and Cyrus gave out a hiss. "Do you really need to do this?"

"Do you want whatever nasty ocean shit you were swimming through in your wounds?"

Cyrus gulped and let her continue. After a few moments she stopped and looked up at him. "Take off your shirt."

"What?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to start cooing over you just because you took off your shirt, you know. Now do you want your wounds to get infected or not?"

* * *

Eventually, everyone else came pouring through the teleporter, bags full of sundries and changes for the beach. Cyrus had brought his own change earlier: a simple pair of trunks which Lacrima had made for him.

Cyrus went into one of the houses he made and changed into his swimsuit, and when he came out Visca nearly choked. "Cyrus, you've got all those bruises! Are you okay?"

Cyrus nodded. "I'm fine, thanks. How about you? I know a beach trip probably wouldn't be the most fun for you…"

Visca laughed a little. "Oh no, I'm fine. It's just a shame that Lacrima went to all the trouble of making me and Regina swimsuits without knowing we dissolve in water."

Cyrus froze, before rushing back to the village to grab something, and he came back with a few handfuls of deep blue potions. "What are those, exactly?"

"They're a potion I used to get Abigail to brew sometimes when I wanted to go exploring. It lets you walk on water by basically repelling it from the body. So, if you drank some…"

Visca gave him a broad smile. "I could go swimming?"

"Well we've have to give it a test, but it's possible." He gave her a bottle and she gulped it down before rushing off to grab a glass of water. She dipped her finger in, like she did at the hot springs, but it didn't dissolve.

"That's sooo weird. Is this what water feels like? Gosh, you'll have to teach me how to swim! I need to tell Regina!" As she ran off, Cyrus couldn't help but grin. Now that he defeated Fishron, this day was already looking wonderful.

* * *

Cyrus found himself sitting in the beach chair next to the unconscious girl who had come from Fishron. The bag he got from the boss itself was thrown casually under her chair, as Cyrus figured it could belong to her and it would a little rude to rifle through her stuff. It was certainly unfortunate that she was missing a beach day, but who knew when she would wake up? It usually didn't take too long, so if she was lucky she might get to catch the latter portion of the day.

"Another one, huh? Her outfit's certainly beach ready." Cyrus turned and saw Abigail standing next to him, wearing a one piece swimsuit. She had dropped the nurse hat and wore her hair down instead of in a ponytail, letting it cascade down to her shoulders.

After a few seconds of gawking, she rolled her eyes and sat down in another beach chair. "Save it for your girlfriends, Cyrus. I guess I'll keep on eye on our new addition here in addition to playing lifeguard."

"I'm sure I could help…" Abigail chuckled and gave him a knowing smile before refusing.

After a few minutes of the girls changing, he heard a voice calling out to him. "Hey Cyrus!" Cyrus turned to see Cthylla, who was wearing a one piece swimsuit that reminded him of her original outfit- mostly white, but with red accenting near the bottom.

"Wow. You look wonderful." She flushed a little and gave a proud grin.

"Thank you! I worked with Lacrima to get the design right, and I think it turned out well." Cyrus suddenly realized how well her sapphire eyes matched the color of the sea, both a beautiful rich blue.

After a few moments of staring at her eyes, Cthylla started to grow red. "Hey, what are you staring at?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Your eyes are just so beautiful that I couldn't help but stare." Cyrus didn't think her face could get any redder, but it did.

Before Cthylla could stutter out a reponse, Cyrus felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso, and heard Annelida's voice from right behind him, so close he could feel her warm breath on his neck. "Ahh come on Cyrus, complement me too!"

"You're very beau-" As Cyrus turned to look at her, he was stunned. Apparently, she had decided to go for a two piece bikini, all black, although the bottom was more of a skirt, considering her tail. Still, Cyrus could see she was very fit, and he couldn't help but stare.

Annelida grinned. "I'll take your silence as approval, then?" Cyrus nodded a little as she chuckled.

After a few moments, Cyrus got a curious look on his face and turned to Annelida. "Say, can you swim? I mean, with the tail?"

"Oh, ye of little faith! Watch this." She slithered over the shore, and Cyrus followed, worrying that he might have to rescue her, but when her tail entered the water, she basically slithered through it. It was certainly a little weird looking, but it worked.

"Well that was surprising."

"It's how snakes swim! I think. Not particularly important, honestly."

"It is how snakes swim, actually." Cyrus turned to see Medulla, who was wearing a pastel pink swimsuit, which was nominally a one piece, but was cut in a such a sway to show a lot of stomach.

"You look wonderful too."

She gave him a smile before rushing off to grab something, and she returned with a bottle. "Just because it's winter doesn't mean we should worry about sunburn. In fact, I brought some sunscreen, and I'd like you to apply to it my back, Cyrus." He could feel his cheeks start to burn, but he certainly wasn't going to miss out on this.

* * *

After applying sunscreen, he turned to see another one of the girls had finished changing, and Bea was clad in a simple yellow bikini. Or should he say bee-kini? Whatever. Visca was accompanying her as well, wearing a royal blue one piece of a similar design to Medulla's, the sort where calling it one piece didn't feel quite right considering how much was cut.

Visca's normally blue slime was now colored a deep purple in embarrassment. "Well, how do I look?"

"You look amazing."

She blushed darker, and couldn't quite look him in the eye. "Say, do you want to show me how to swim now? I think I need to cool down."

Cyrus nodded, and after double checking that the water walking potion still held up (and made sure she had enough to last for the rest of the day and then some) they waded into the water. "Being immersed in water like this is definitely a novel experience. If I may ask, how did you learn to swim, Cyrus?"

Cyrus stopped for a moment and stroked his chin in contemplation. "I… don't actually know. I remember the motions, I know how to dive and how to get out of a pool, but I don't remember any pool that I could have learned in. It's frustrating. I'm left with all these promising things: skills, concepts, terms, but I can't remember context."

"I'm sorry, Cyrus. I forget sometimes."

Cyrus shrugged. "It was the lot I was dealt, so I should handle it with grace, I figure. No use complaining."

Visca smiled him, and he started to explain the basics of swimming. "Now I want you to try floating on your back. I'll help you with it, alright?"

* * *

As Cyrus started to teach Visca the intricacies of swimming freestyle, someone swam over to them. Lacrima's bikini was gunmetal grey, and since she discarded the gloves for this trip her ghostly arms were visible. Cyrus smiled at her. "You look great. I was told all the swimsuits were your work? They're all spectacular."

Lacrima flushed. "Thank you very much Cyrus. I worked hard on them."

"Was there a reason you swam over?"

"Yeah, some of the girls were starting a game of volleyball and they wanted to know if you'd like to join."

"Sounds great. Hey Visca, want to try swimming back to the shore? It isn't too far."

* * *

After returning to the shore, Cyrus found himself participating in a game of 3v3 volleyball (Cyrus wasn't going to question how they got a net up so fast), with Cthylla, Asta, and Tina playing against Lacrima, Francisca, and Cyrus himself. With Cthylla and the Twins all in one place, Cyrus was reminded of how similar they looked, with the only real difference being the eyes. The twins had chosen different swimsuits though, and were wearing bikinis that matched their eyes- Tina in red and Asta in vibrant green.

Francisca held the volleyball in one of her arms, head tilted to the side in apparent confusion. "What am I supposed to do with this… volleyball?" Francisca wore a sleek, sporty looking one piece in pale gray, with vertical red racing stripes going up the side.

As Lacrima sighed and explained the rules to her again, Cyrus did a little stretching, only to look over and see the Twins and Cthylla staring, and wait, was that a trickle of blood from Cthylla's nose?

"Uhh, Cthylla, are you okay? You've got a nosebleed."

She flushed and hastily wiped it away. "It's nothing! Carry on!"

At that moment, Lacrima finally seemed satisfied with Francisca's understanding of the rules of volleyball (or she had just given up completely), and she served the ball, sending it flying over the net.

Cyrus thought the teams might have been a little stacked- Francisca had two pairs of arms, and he was definitely one of the more physical people in the village (even if he needed wings to counteract his bad leg), but one issue detracted from his skill: the girls.

Volleyball was a sport that required a fair amount of running around and jumping, which did… interesting things when paired with swimsuits. The volleyball certainly wasn't the only thing that was bouncing, and Cyrus was distracted, to say the least.

Despite this setback, Cyrus was very physically fit and Francisca's four arms more than made up for her lack of skill. Her spikes could knock the other girls off their feet, which was definitely a little concerning, but at least she hadn't brought out of the multitools yet. They managed to scrape a victory, and Cyrus decided to take a rest.

* * *

Sitting down in a chair relatively close to Abigail and the unconscious girl, Cyrus suddenly realized he was tremendously thirsty. All the physical activity, both fighting the boss and the volleyball, made him desperate for something cool to drink, but before he could sit up to grab one he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Thirsty? Here." Cyrus turned to see Crista, clad in a rather modest light blue swimsuit, a drink of some kind in her hand. He took it and drank immediately, not even looking to see what it was. It was sweet, fruity, and extremely cold.

"Did you cool the drink by yourself?"

She gave him a small smile. "Yep. It certainly isn't a snowstorm or even a minor squall, but it's something. It's nice to be helpful." She took a seat in the shade.

"Does the heat bother you?"

She smiled and fanned herself with her hand. "I'll survive the heat, sure, but the shade is a bit more comfortable. I assure you, I'm enjoying myself, just not as much as Aria probably is." Cyrus looked to where Crista was gesturing, and saw Aria lounging in the sun, seemingly trying to soak in as much sun as possible, and Cyrus quickly looked away once he saw how much skin her swimsuit exposed.

Cyrus decided to change the subject. "Thank you for the spear, Crista. It really helped with the fight earlier today."

She smiled again. "I'm glad to hear it." She leaned over to get a closer look at him. "Good grief, how hard did that thing hit you? You're going to bruise!"

"Isn't the worst I've faced."

She sighed and stepped over to Cyrus before lightly tapping his welts and injuries. Before he could ask what exactly that was supposed to do, he felt a cool sensation spreading across his body from where ever her fingers made contact. "Wow. That's wonderful."

"I try."

* * *

Everyone had managed to burn themselves out by the time the sun began to set (Cyrus wasn't sure how a girl could exhaust herself after spending nearly an entire day just posing and preening, but Nicola managed) and they sat down for a big fire and dinner. The night would get cold pretty quick (it was still winter), but everyone was still in a jovial mood.

Just before dinner, the mysterious new girl's eyes opened, revealing a pair of eyes the color of amber. Cyrus was the first to notice her awakening. "Hey there. It's good to see you're up. I'm Cyrus."

She smiled, revealing a pair of unusually sharp canines, before introducing herself. "I'm Aqua."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FISH GIRL FISH GIRL
> 
> Ahem. Anyways, it felt a little weird referring to it as just Fishron and not Duke Fishron, but I can't reasonably explain Cyrus coming the conclusion it was a Duke. I will have to admit that I borrowed a lot of her design from an artist named PinkFreshPics on Reddit. Their Duchess Fishron is very cute, go check em out.
> 
> I was considering including the classic harem trope "walk in on a suggestive situation" when Andi was disinfecting Cyrus' wounds… but eh.
> 
> Aqua's namesake is very obvious, I'd think. At the moment I'm imagining her as the uber affectionate clingy sort- lots of skinship and all that.
> 
> The way it's looking, I might take a breather to work on a few side projects after this, which means it might be a bit until the next chapter (or maybe inspiration will strike, who knows). I'm thinking there are 3 options: Golem, Empress, or Pumpkin Moon. Leave a review asking for whichever one you want first, and I'll do my best to consider it. I'll cover them all eventually, but I'd like to ask if y'all have a order preference.
> 
> I hoped you enjoyed the beach episode. It was interesting to write, even if I felt like I was gawking a little when I wrote, if that makes sense?


	14. The Lady of the Lights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do have to admit the harem is a little lovey dovey, probably me overcorrecting due to a dislike of tsunderes with too little dere. Catfights are a harem staple though, and some drama could do some good- the type of drama supplied by a haughty Empress, perhaps?
> 
> If you couldn't tell by the chapter title, we're doing the living breathing rave next.

Aqua was… clingy. Or maybe she just had no real definition of personal space? After she first woke up, she liked getting close to people- not necessarily Cyrus, but anyone at all. At first, Cyrus thought it was just chills or a general dislike of the cold, but even after Cyrus managed to get the girl a coat (he imagined it must be kind of awkward to gain human while wearing a swimsuit) she still liked being near people.

After a bit of talking, they got her to ask first, but she was just a touchy-feely sort of person who liked to be close to others. Cyrus couldn't fathom why she in particular had a fascination with touch, maybe it had something to do with the great swarms of sharks that accompanied her previous form? He didn't know.

Whatever the case was, she was quick to smile and looked pretty cute in the big overcoat that Cyrus managed to dig up for her. Lacrima would have her work cut for her, having to make an entirely new outfit for the girl so she didn't freeze, but she enjoyed tailoring.

After introductions with Aqua, everyone headed back home for a rest, but before Cyrus could rest his weary bones, he decided to open up Garrett's book. Something about the brisk salt air had cleared his head, and made him realize there was something up with the strange, brightly colored bug he had caught a little while ago. After turning through pages of Garret's excellent calligraphy and drawings he found what he was looking for: The Prismatic Lacewing.

_There are few creatures more majestic than the Prismatic Lacewing- and fewer more insidious. With the appearance of unusually beautiful butterfly, the Lacewing charms just about every creature who looks upon it- and compels protective urges in them, warping their minds to protect the Lacewing above their own lives. It is difficult to even bring yourself to harm one, especially when you're transfixed by its beautiful glimmering. Killing one will enrage the most dangerous creatures of the Hallow- the tyrant of that strange land, which defends the lacewings with all its fury._

Cyrus was horrified to read that- there was something particularly scary about a creature that did no damage to the body, but instead warped and changed the mind. He suddenly felt an urge to get it out, get it away from himself and the people he cared about before it started to impact them, but getting rid of it would make... something terribly angry. Looking through the book didn't give him any idea of what killing the Lacewing might bring, but he was sure it would be bad.

Before going to bed, Cyrus made sure to cover up the bottle the Lacewing was in- it would be a shame to get caught up in the creature's charms and forget everything he just learned about it.

* * *

Breakfast was an interesting affair the next day, in large part due to Aqua, who decided to take a seat next to Andi and scoot uncomfortably close, at least for Andi's taste.

"Could you not?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Aqua conceded and scooted towards Francisca, who looked more bemused than anything.

"What is up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're so… cuddly."

"I like being close to people, simple as that. If it makes you uncomfortable, then I'll stay away from you, but… is what I like your business?"

Andi shrugged before turning her attention to someone else. "Aria, I've got ask, are you actually part plant? Like how did that happen?"

"I'm… plantlike, I suppose." She smoothed her dress, and Cyrus wondered if it was a nervous tic. "I still need to eat and drink like a normal person, but sunlight is good for me. As for how I got this way… well I don't know."

"What was it like being a plant?"

"What was it like being an eldritch monstrosity?"

"Touche. But at least my previous form had something like a brain. You were a giant flower."

Aria rolled her eyes. "And you're questioning me and not the giant eyeball?" Cthylla started to flush a little at that.

Andi chuckled. "Good point, but at least eyes are parts of animals. You're something completely different- practically alien."

Aria was still toying with her skirt, rubbing one of the pleats between her fingers. "I can't describe it easily. It wasn't quite like thinking- it was like responding to stimuli, just reacting to things."

"Reacting to things like Cyrus' leg?" He couldn't help but cringe a little at that. Yikes.

"I didn't mean to-"

"Sure, you didn't, but that doesn't mean Cyrus' leg is any less gone, is it?" The sudden vitriol was surprising; sure, she liked to stir shit and cause trouble, but she didn't go for the throat like this.

Aria stood up and stormed off, green skirt swaying wildly, and Cyrus decided to follow behind her. After a few moments of silence, Andi gulped. "Woops."

* * *

"Aria! Aria!" Cyrus had chased her down to a little out of the way hall that she was fond of, probably due to the massive windows Cyrus decided to install.

She turned to look at him, and Cyrus could see tears on her cheeks. "Cyrus. Do… do you blame me for your leg?"

"Of course I don't. I can't blame you for what your previous form did." Cyrus reached out for her, to take her hand and give her some sort of comfort.

Aria backed up, avoiding him like he was on fire. "But I tore off your leg!"

"The Aria I know now isn't the monster who injured me."

She sniffled. "If I wasn't here, you'd still have your leg!"

His eyes widened, but he managed to grab her hand. "Do you think my leg is worth more than you? More than anyone? Hell, I'd lose the other one for any one of you girls!"

"You should value yourself more, Cyrus. What have I ever done for you? You lost your leg so I could… what, grow you some plants? Give you the key to some jungle deathtrap?"

"You don't need to justify your existence to me, Aria. I've never blamed you for my leg, and I will never will. I don't want you to think you're somehow in debt to me."

She stepped back from him, tears glimmering on her cheeks. "You… really don't hold your leg against me?"

"Of course not."

"Well, if you say so, I guess I have to believe you… but if you ever need anything at all, I'm your girl." She embraced him, and Cyrus could see tears running down the smooth surface of his armor.

* * *

"Now can you lift your left arm?" Lacrima was using a measuring tape in order to get Aqua's dimensions- after all, she had to make an entirely new set of clothes for her. Of course, she had taken measures like this before, although Aqua was unusually chipper during the whole process.

"Alright!"

"So, if it's alright to ask, is there some deeper reason behind… well you know."

"Mmm hmm." Aqua didn't continue.

After a few moments of silence, Lacrima sighed. "Can you tell me?"

"Well, ahh…" she started to scratch her chin before Lacrima pushed her arm back into place, to properly measure it. "It's pretty simple, I'm just afraid of being alone."

"As simple as that?"

"Maybe that doesn't really cover how intense that fear is. The idea of being alone… of never having anyone to talk to, anyone to truly know me… It sounds a little silly when I say it aloud, but I clamp on because I don't want people to leave."

"Well it's not exactly the same, but I understand the fear of being alone- you know Francisca?"

"The lass with the four arms?"

"Yeah. She's a little lacking in social nuance sometimes and I've grown to appreciate her… but sometimes she upsets me a little. Imagine meeting a person who was practically purpose built to be a better version of you. I suppose I'm just as afraid of abandonment as you are."

"But we're here with each other now."

Lacrima grinned. "I suppose we are. Now I need you to relax your arms…"

* * *

"Say Aqua, when I defeated your previous form, there was this bag… and I didn't want to touch it without your permission."

She looked at the bag for a few seconds, squinting, before shrugging. "I don't think it's mine, but I'd like to see what's inside."

Cyrus carefully undid the knot holding the bag closed… only to find one single item inside, a long flail with the Fishron's visage serving as its head.

Aqua took one look inside the bag and grew pale. "Okay, yikes. That's pretty macabre. You can definitely keep it, just keep it far away from me."

Cyrus had to agree- it would be like carrying around a weapon made from a human skull or something- the aesthetics detracted from any effectiveness the weapon might have. It wasn't quite as bad for Cyrus, but it had an understandable impact on Aqua.

* * *

Cyrus had found somewhere appropriately isolated in the Hallow, the Lacewing's bottle carefully stowed away in a bag. Deciding not to risk another run in with the creature's strange mental powers, Cyrus took the bag and swung towards the ground, breaking the bottle with a shattering noise- and then the earth seemed to tremble.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a flash of brilliant light, and turned to see his foe- and was surprised by how human she looked. And it was definitely a she- a very beautiful woman, although there was an unearthly air around her, something inherently supernatural. Perhaps the term was fae? Although she certainly wasn't some tiny fairy, considering how she towered above him.

She had skin like gold and long tresses of pink hair that shone brightly in the light she seemed to naturally emit, and her hair matched a long sort of billowing skirt that was open in the front, exposing a pair of long legs that were clad in a pair of bright blue boots. Her gauntlets were the same bright color and were spiky like crystal, sending little slivers of light all over the place. She had a distinctive crown, although it was nothing special compared to her wings: there were four of them, tremendous in size but shaped just like a butterfly's, with a beautiful rainbow sheen- pinks, yellows, greens, and blues, if Cyrus could think of a color he could spot it in her wings, which glowed brightly.

As she few closer, it was like going from night to day- she was so bright it was like a miniature sun, and Cyrus realized he might have trouble aiming, the glare was so intense. He flew backwards on his ice wings, noting the strange patterns of reflected light from this Queen, no, Empress of the Hallow.

Cyrus looked back and was scared to see the Empress glowering at him- the bosses he fought before seemed angry, certainly, but seeing an expression of pure fury etched onto that massive, superhuman face was chilling. She lifted her hand almost lazily, and the air around her was filled with light.

She fired a series of bright bolts at Cyrus, and he darted out of the way, before diving to the ground to avoid an aggressive charge from the Empress. Before he could turn and strike at her with his flail, he felt something tear through his armor and cut into his shoulder. He lunged to the side, only to feel whatever it was continue to tear through his armor before he managed to dart out of the way.

Looking back, Cyrus saw a series of brilliant lights orbiting around the Empress- they were like sun rays, although they cut through everything with terrible efficiency- the ground, trees, and unfortunately, his shoulder. Once he got out of range, he struck wildly with his flail, sending flows of bubbles into the air.

Apparently, the bubbles provoked her, and she charged again as he ducked out of the way, avoiding the rays of light that still circled her, cutting through the earth like plows. She made a strange sort of flicking gesture with her hand, and several beams of light started pointing at Cyrus' chest. They didn't hurt, but he moved out the way just in time to avoid a series of shining swords, which tore through the air, following the paths of the beams, and one of them scratched his armor, sending a fragment of turtle shell flying through the air. If he hadn't dodged, the overlapping blades could have torn him in half.

Cyrus continued to use his flail, and even if he didn't manage to hit her, the flail generated lots of bubbles which automatically chased the Empress. Of course, the bubbles seemed a lot less impressive when they just popped against the Empress' golden skin, but it was something.

The Empress wasn't completely unpredictable- there was a sort of pattern to her attacks, like repeated steps in a dance, and there was a sort of grace to the Empress' movements, although Cyrus suspected that normal ballroom dancing didn't involve laser swords. She summoned endless barrages effortlessly, with a simple wave of the hand, and sometimes he would see a cruel smile on the Empress' face, as if she took a sadistic joy in tearing up everything and everyone in front of her.

He could tell something was up when the Empress drew a circle in the air with one of her gloved hands, and he jumped back in surprised as the gleaming circle of light burst into 13 gleaming balls of light, which spiraled out and left glowing trails in the air which Cyrus made sure to avoid.

Her attacks grew more and more complex as the fight continued, the swords tracing complex curving paths in the air, beautiful curves in every color Cyrus could imagine, and several he hadn't ever seen before. Cyrus was surprised to see her using the beams of light almost defensively- they hemmed him in and even popped the bubbles that made up the majority of his damage. She wove gleaming cages from burning pillars of light and lunged with gleaming claws.

It was frustrating to fight her at range, but he knew that getting too close would give him almost no time to react to her attacks, which only seemed to grow more vicious over time. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be doing any visual damage to the empress, although her growing fury seemed to indicate he was doing something right (or she was just getting real tired of wasting time on him).

Cyrus could feel blood seeping from his injuries, a series of incredibly clean cuts from the Empress' light attacks, which cut through his armor as easily as his skin and muscles. He was also physically exhausted: even with the help of many potions, Cyrus hadn't slept for hours, and he could see hints of twilight on the horizon.

As the rising sun painted the horizon orange, her lights got brighter as her attacks grew more powerful: scything blades tearing through tree trunks and brilliant lights that promised almost instant death.

Finally, Cyrus managed to catch the Empress, tying up her arm with the chain of the flail and limiting her ability to attack. With one tremendous tug, the Empress finally fell, her massive body dissolving into sweet smelling smoke- leaving a very similar looking woman behind.

Her new human form wasn't too different from her previous one, with beautiful pink hair and variegated butterfly wings- much closer to Bea's bee wings as opposed to Cyrus' or Regina's more birdlike wings. She had the same pink skirt as her previous form, although it wrapped all the way around her body, falling down to her ankles. Her strange crystalline gauntlets were turned into a pair of blue opera gloves, and she still had a tiara on her head, a beautiful thing made of gold and sapphires. She was ghostly pale, with skin like milkglass, and when Cyrus picked her up he noticed she was extremely light. There was something off about her Cyrus couldn't put his finger on, something that told him she wasn't quite human, and it wasn't the wings, some deep uncanniness he couldn't quite put into words. Maybe it had something to do with the long, pointed ears?

He fished out his mirror and warped the two of them home, trying to ignore the droplets of blood staining the smooth glass surface.

* * *

"What the hell happened this time?" Abigail was looking at one of his wounds- a smooth cut through both this shoulder and the pauldron that covered it.

"It was some sort of laser… thing."

"That really helps, Cyrus." Abigail sighed as she worked on cleaning and closing the wound.

After a few moments of silence, Cyrus turned to look at their new guest- the fairy woman. "Say. Do you think that there's something… of about her?"

"What do you mean, off? Other than the ears and wings, she isn't that different from you and me. I think it's pretty rich for you to go judging people considering the company you keep."

Cyrus shrugged. "I can't explain it, but something in my gut says that's she's… different. Not necessarily bad-different, just that she isn't quite human."

"Well I suppose I'll keep an eye on her, then."

Just as Cyrus was reaching for the knob to open the door to the sickroom, the door suddenly swung open and he jumped back in surprise as Aria stepped in.

"I'm sorr- Oh, Cyrus! It's nice to see you." She gave him a sweet smile before turning to Abigail. "And Abigail, there was something I wanted to ask- could you teach me a bit about medicine and healing? It seems like such a useful skill to have, and I'm sure you must be tired of doing all the nursing all by yourself."

Abigail sighed. "Well I suppose that I can start showing you the ropes, but only when I'm not busy. I won't have you getting in the way of my practice, is that clear?"

Aria gave an enthusiastic nod as Cyrus took his leave, leaving the two alone to tend after the strange fairy girl.

* * *

"Say, Annelida, what's it like having a tail? I can't imagine what moving around is like." Cyrus was laying back, fittingly enough, on Annelida's tail as she rested her head in his lap.

"You think it's weird to slither around on a tail, but it's all I've ever known. If I had a pair of legs instead of my tail, I'd be stumbling all over myself."

"I mean, is it useful?"

She shrugged. "I mean I use it to move so of course it's useful, but I'm not sure if there's anything special about a big tail like this. Maybe you could do something with a prehensile tail, but… I suppose the best thing about the tail is that there's a lot more of me to go around."

Before Cyrus could respond, the door opened to the sound of metal sliding over wood, and Ditra slithered in. Admittedly, Cyrus hadn't seen much of her since they first met- he got the impression that she didn't get along with Annelida, but didn't gather more than that. Hopefully, this meeting would let both of them know her a little better, and maybe they could put this rivalry behind them.

"Ditra."

"Annelida." Well that was a wonderful start.

Cyrus didn't really have a good grip on what Ditra was like as a person, but he was going to try. "So, Ditra… what have you been up to recently? We haven't had many chances to talk recently." Cyrus swore he could hear Annelida muttering "thank goodness" under her breath.

She shrugged. "I spent some time with the twins, talked mechanics with Meredith and Judith. My tail is a pain to maintain."

Annelida scoffed. "What do you need to do, apply oil?"

"Yes, actually. I assume you go through an awful lot of soap, cleaning that… thing."

Cyrus sighed. Of course, he wasn't expecting them to get along immediately, but this vitriol was unfortunate- Cyrus figured that if the two girls could agree on anything, it would be their tails. Cyrus decided to try to redirect the conversation. "I can't imagine looking after your tail takes up all your time, Ditra. Have you picked up a hobby or anything? Lacrima sews, Bea cooks, Francisca terrorizes the wildlife, you know."

Ditra's eyebrows rose a that last one. "She what?"

"Francisca likes to go out and use her weapons, keep her skills sharp. Normally, this means dispatching monsters, but I swear I've seen her chasing squirrels."

She chuckled a little at that. "Well I certainly don't have weapons installed, but I can move surprisingly quickly with the tail if I really try. I do have these though." She reached down to one of her tail segments and fiddled with it for a few seconds before something popped out- a drone like the ones that accompanied her previous form, a sphere of metal with a glowing red circle which might serve as an eye.

"Do they fire lasers?"

"Oh good grief, no. Apparently I lost that functionality when I became human. All they can really do right now is serve as cameras." She made a gesture with her hand and the drone hovered around the room with surprisingly speed for a literal ball of metal.

"Can you see from them?"

"Like eyes, yeah." Cyrus had to admit that was another strange similarity between Annelida and Ditra- the similar previous forms, the long tails which replaced legs, and now he knew both tails basically had eyes in them- the similarities were honestly incredible.

Annelida huffed and muttered something about "overgrown children's toys", and Cyrus decided to change the subject again. "I'm thinking of heading down into the temple in the jungle soon. Aria gave me a key which she said would unlock the door."

Both girls cocked their heads, although Annelida spoke up first. "The jungle temple, huh? Have any idea what it's like?"

"It's this massive structure made from dark brown brick, bricks which are practically indestructible, and I genuinely don't think I could have managed to get in without a key."

"Be careful, alright? It might have been locked for a good reason." Cyrus nodded.

Ditra was stroking her chin, deep in contemplation, before she spoke up. "Say, I might be able to help you with that." She rapped her knuckles against the metal of her tail. "My cameras have night vision and can move pretty far on their own, so I could probably map the entire place if you brought me along and unlocked the door."

"Sounds good. It's good to have someone watching my back, considering how brutal some of these enemies are." Cyrus embraced Annelida before standing up. "Now I think I'm going to check out the hospital wing, see how our new guest is doing."

* * *

Eventually, Cyrus meandered back to the sickroom and took a seat to wait for their new guest to wake up. Abigail was waiting too, and they passed the time in amicable silence.

When the girl opened her eyes, Cyrus was momentarily stunned. He had never seen eyes like this girl's, a brilliant kaleidoscope of color that seemed to changed depending on where you looked from: on the right, you might see a vibrant shade of sky blue and on the left you could see irises like amber. Her eyes seemed to be constantly shifting, never staying one color for long, and while it should have been nauseating or at least confusing Cyrus found himself transfixed.

"Ahem. Who are you?" She had a melodic voice that Cyrus could honestly listen to for hours, although she seemed rather irate.

"I'm Cyrus. Could you tell me what your name is?"

She rolled her eyes, her irises shifting through a rainbow of colors. "My name is Titania. The Empress of Light."

"Empress?"

She turned up her nose at him. "Of course. I am ruler of all the hallow, defender of all its creatures."

"So why did you only get angry about the butterfly and not the pixies or unicorns?"

"I could barely tolerate you defending yourself from creatures who actively meant you harm, but killing that poor Lacewing- it never meant you any harm, you brute!"

"So why not get all pissy at me for cutting down one of those trees? Sounds like you fell for the Lacewing's tricks, just like everyone else." Cyrus usually got along fairly well with people, but something about her ego just rubbed him the wrong way. Sure, Visca had a few issues with arrogance when she first showed up, but she wasn't completely assured that the reason she fought with Cyrus was justified. For some reason, traits Cyrus found endearing in Visca, he found incredibly annoying in Titania.

"You're insufferable."

"The feeling's mutual, _your majesty_."

* * *

Cyrus did decide to give her the tour- it was practically tradition by this point- but their conversation varied between long gaps of silence and vitriolic barbs. He almost sagged with relief when he saw Visca and Regina rounding the corner. Hopefully, they would get through to Titania better than he could due to their royal titles.

"Regina, Visca, this is Titania." The woman in question cleared her throat, clearly urging Cyrus to carry on. "The… Empress of Light."

Cyrus wasn't entirely sure how this entire title system worked exactly, and he had to wonder how Titania would view the girls. On a technical level, Cyrus thought that an Emperss was on a higher rank than a king or queen, but at the same time being Empress of Light was very different from being King or Queen of the slimes…

Regina and Visca's eyes both widened when they heard the title Empress of Light, so Cyrus had to assume it meant something to them. Regina stepped forward first, her usual bounciness being replaced with a calm and collected royal attitude. "Greetings. I am Regina, Queen of the Slimes, and my companion Visca is the King of the Slimes."

Titania looked at them with those strange eyes of her, which shifted through a dozen shades of red in a few seconds. "Hmmph. A pretender Queen who paraded around my domain like she owned the place and a jumped up common slime that thinks too highly of itself."

Both of the girls took offense to that, for rather obvious reasons, and Cyrus could see both of them flushing with anger, with Regina turning a particularly deep purple shade, like a particularly vivid bruise. Before either party could start exchanging actual bruises, Cyrus stepped between them.

"Maybe you should be a little less caustic, Titania. As far as we know, you're stuck like this. You shouldn't be burning bridges."

Titania was silent for a few seconds. "How many others are there like us? Have you tested if people can return back to their previous forms?"

"No, we haven't, but we have more than a dozen girls who've stayed completely human for weeks. As far as we know, you're human for good."

She gave herself a careful once-over, analyzing her limbs and experimentally twitching her wings before replying to Cyrus. "I suppose I haven't changed too much in comparison to my previous form, other than my size. However, that doesn't mean I'm human, or that I'll stay with your little band of fools, Cyrus."

"Band of fools?"

"Any intelligent monster would have finished you off before you could defeat them, but the real question I have is why none of them left. You certainly aren't going to stop me, are you?"

"You're… leaving?"

"I have no interest in becoming a satellite orbiting around you, Cyrus. I'm going home." With that, she walked outside and flew away, towards the Hallow.

Regina crossed her arms and sighed. "Well that was certainly a surprise. Are you going to follow along Cyrus? Make sure she doesn't get herself killed?"

Cyrus nodded. "I'll try, but I should probably keep my distance. I'm sure she'll be furious if she finds out I chased after her to make sure she wouldn't get herself hurt." After a few moments of waiting, Cyrus took flight, flying behind Titania while trying to make sure he wouldn't be spotted.

* * *

Unfortunately, he found Titania almost immediately. She was in the middle of a herd of unicorns, and from the way they huffed and scuffed their hooves against the ground it seemed like they weren't taking too kindly to her presence. Cyrus wondered if Titania was actually part fairy- it would explain a lot about her- but if she was, the unicorns didn't seem to care.

Eventually, one of the unicorns charged, dipping its head so its horn would strike Titania right in the chest, and Cyrus was just about to leap to her defense when she lifted her hand in the shape of a finger gun, and shot at the creature with a lance of gleaming yellow light, sending it tumbling to the ground.

Maybe she could handle the wilderness on her own, Cyrus mused, but her killing of one unicorn drove the others into a panicked frenzy, and it looked like the entire group was about to charge her. To her credit, she almost got them all, cutting through them in seconds with brilliant bursts of light, but one slipped through her defenses and charged at her back, its razor sharp horn gleaming….

Before Cyrus speared the creature through, bring its charge to a halt as Titania turned in a panic. She nearly hit Cyrus with one of her laser attacks, but he narrowly dodged out of the way as she was distracted by the dead unicorn which nearly got her.

"You… saved me."

Cyrus scratched the back of his head. "You did wonderfully. I certainly couldn't have handled unicorns as well my first time."

"You saved my life."

"Yeah, so?"

Titania glared at him, her face turning a deep crimson only matched by her eyes. "SO? I can't believe you're treating saving my life like no big deal!"

"I don't like you, but I'm certainly not leaving you to die."

She huffed. "That may be your reason, but now I owe you. I would dishonor myself I didn't repay you eventually, and the only way I can do that is by saving your life."

Cyrus cringed. "Are you sure I can't like, waive that?"

That was not the correct response. She stormed up to him, her thunderous expression matching the fury in those crimson eyes. "Waive it? You want me to just forget that you saved my life? You might wave it off, but I refuse to forget. Regrettably, I'm stuck with you until I can save your life."

His first thought was to see if he could stage some scenario in which she could safe his life- all it would take was finding the nearest monster and letting it charge him. Surprisingly, Cyrus didn't doubt the possibility of her saving him, but as annoying as this whole life debt thing was, it was an excuse to keep her around until she had a better reason to say. Honestly, with a bit more caution she'd probably be fine in the wilderness, but Cyrus certainly didn't want the poor girl wandering alone without any company. It would be miserable.

Cyrus pulled out his magic mirror from his pocket and showed it to her. "This is a magic mirror, and it'll teleport us back to the village. Grab onto me."

"Grab onto you?" Her distaste was evident, although Cyrus probably could have phrased it better.

"It requires physical contact, unless you want to fly back home?" She sighed before grabbing onto his forearm, and then the two of them disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always had a soft spot for wallflowers/people who feel lonely. I'm not a very clingy person, but hugs still feel great, so I just see Aqua as an extension of someone who's afraid of being alone. I think there's something kind of sweet about girls in harems being friends, like Charlotte and Laura from Infinite Stratos for example.
> 
> Speaking of harem tropes, how I plan on ending this thing: I figure there are 3 ways harems can go. Marry/date 'em all, don't date any, or settling for one. Polyamory falls closer to the first, I guess, but as of yet it doesn't include all members. The end goal is everybody or near everybody, but we'll see how it goes. Of course, a lot of harem media doesn't really go for dating- it's endless pining/obsession which fulfills the self indulgence.
> 
> I suppose I'll put an explanation for why Cyrus is missing a leg here, about four chapters late (you can skip this paragraph if you want, it's just me explaining my thoughts). Part of it was escalation- I can't kill Cyrus for obvious reasons, but I wanted to give fights more urgency and impact than injures that sound bad but get patched up by the Nurse in one chapter. However, I didn't want to cheapen something as lasting as amputation by making it a between chapter cliffhanger that got resolved easily. It also forces Cyrus to take his fighting into the air, which should hopefully make battles more interesting. Can't remember for sure, but I might have taken a bit of inspiration from Johnny Joestar from Jojo- a man crippled from the legs down who can fight, but has to work around his disability instead of getting a magic cure.
> 
> The name Titania comes from Midsummer Night's Dream, the queen of the fairies, although Cyrus certainly doesn't have the head of an ass. I took a bit of inspiration from changeling stories- a fairy replacing a human, although usually a baby and not a full grown adult.
> 
> Titania is a lot more tsun than any of the previous girls, and it's not going to wear off nearly as soon, I think. Tell me what you think!


	15. A Brick House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… I'm going to say that the Moon Lord is a Great Old One (of the same 'species' of Cthulhu) but probably… isn't Cthulhu? Like, I took Lovecraftian inspiration, but the Moon Lord as I'm imagining her is Cthulhu like, but not the slimy bastard himself, yeah?
> 
> This chapter gets a little dark, or at least has dark implications, so, you know, watch out for that. Also, this was one awfully long fight. Like wow.
> 
> Content Warning: Implied, offscreen cannibalism

The jungle temple was a sprawling structure, a mess of dark brown brick carved with strange patterns- eyes that glared across the underground jungle, strange inhuman figures walking or crawling across the worn, weathered brick. Eventually, Cyrus managed to find the only door on the entire complex, which was surprisingly normal looking- other than an unusually large lock, it was basically a normal door.

"So, what the hell did they lock in here?" Cyrus fiddled with the key Aria gave him, unwilling to just pop open the door and release whatever was held inside.

Ditra shrugged. "Who knows? I can use my cameras to check it out, I suppose. Just pry the door open and I can toss one in."

Titania was leaning against the wall, studying her fingernails while looking completely uninterested. "We're not going to get anything done just standing here. Just put it in the damn keyhole before I shove it up yours."

Cyrus gulped and unlocked the door to reveal a long hallway built of the same brown brick, although the designs on the inside were incredibly detailed. The walls were etched with dozens of figures, great blocks and columns of strange looking men dressed in flowing robes. The air was thick with the smell of decay, and Cyrus swore he could see bones scattered throughout the structure. That was worrying enough, but the real concerning thing was that they were gnawed on.

With a metallic clunk, one of her drones disconnected from her tail, before hovering away silently into the dark recesses of the temple. As it disappeared into the inky black, Cyrus turned to Ditra. "So what does it look like?"

"Seems like the architect was on drugs, honestly. The tunnels seem to zig and zag wildly, and there are these weird tunnels sprouting out- some are more like chutes in the roof or pits in the floor. One wrong step and you'd fall in."

After a few moments of silence, Ditra yelped and fell backwards onto herself. "What the hell! Good grief, what happened to that thing!"

Cyrus helped her up as shivered. "What was what? Are you okay?"

"Sorry. Something jumped at the drone. Its claws slid straight off, but it was one hell of a jumpscare."

"So, what is it?"

"It was some sort of disgusting… lizard man thing. Disgusting green skin, tattered robes, long tail, razor sharp claws,and horrible green eyes. I think that's what some of the carvings depict- these lizard men aren't fiction, they're the real inhabitants of the temple."

"Wait, you said they had tails, but the carvings don't."

She shrugged. "I saw what I saw, Cyrus. I'll drive the drone down deeper."

After some more exclamations of disgust, Ditra's eyes widened. "Woow. That is one big room."

She seemed to spend a few moments gawking at some marvel only she could see before Titania started to clear her throat. "Oh, woops. Sorry! There's a massive chamber in the temple- it's actually pretty beautiful despite the drugs the architect must have been on. Did they really need so many arches? Whatever. Big room, floor littered with bones, horrifying altar to a strange deity, etcetera."

"That doesn't sound beautiful."

"If you ignore the bloodstains, it isn't too bad."

"Good grief. Let's just start exploring. Warn us if there's anything too nasty, yeah?"

As they passed through the temple, exploring strange catacombs that seemed to spiral and whorl through the temple in a way that made no sense- Cyrus couldn't image the place's floor plan, it would probably look like a child's scribbles- but they tried their best to navigate the tunnels, which doubled back over themselves or were made horribly inconvenient- how exactly were you supposed to get to a door halfway up a straight vertical wall?

Cyrus led the way, flail at the ready, but eventually Ditra held her arm out in front of him to stop him in his tracks. "Hey, I think I see something. Let me test this."

She detached another one of her drones and sent it hovering in front of them, before letting it settle down to gently touch the ground- before it was speared by a massive spear that sprung from the ceiling with incredible force. After a few moments of blocking the path like some giant portcullis, the spears slowly retracted into the ceiling, leaving a ruined drone behind.

"Ooh, my poor baby-" Cyrus did feel sorry for Ditra- those drones were practically part of her, but these traps were way too risky, so he grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't. You don't want to get speared too, do you? You'll have to be very careful with your tail." She nodded, but still seemed downcast.

"You… can make more of them, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then risking yourself for this one isn't worth it. Please tell us if you see any more plates or traps like that. Titania, could you do some light magic or something to make things easier to see?" She sighed, but complied by producing a warm ball of yellowish light that was a little like a miniature sun- uncomfortable to look at straight on, but more than capable of lighting up their surroundings.

The extra light helped a lot in finding the small pressure plates that dotted the structure, even if they still blended in well- slightly raised bricks in a temple made of strangely placed and uneven masonry.

As they delved deeper into the temple, the ground was littered with more and more bones as the furniture grew more damaged and cracks began appearing in the walls, but the undamaged portions of the wall showed disturbing fingers, men who grew more and more monstrous as they descended further- skulls lengthening, actual tails sprouting from their tailbones.

Titania's ball of light was a relief, definitely, but it sent long shadows down the halls, making turning corners even scarier than before. Despite this, Cyrus still walked ahead of Titania and her glowing ball- meaning that when he turned a corner, it took him a few moments to catch the pair of yellow eyes before the creature lunged and the light revealed a snarling green creature lunging at him, its inhuman face distorted further by the expression of complete fury on its face.

But Cyrus hadn't gotten this far by having slow instincts though, and in one fluid move he drew his flail and caught the creature on the flail's head, crushing its torso and sending it flying into a wall. The creature slid down the brown bricks of the wall, covering the intricate carvings in blood. It didn't get back up.

Cyrus looked down at the floor and nearly jumped- there was a massive carving under his feet, lines curving into a horrific shape, a massive visage covered in tentacles, a third eye on the forehead glaring up at the roof of the chamber. "Guuh!"

Ditra and Titania seemed equally disgusted, although the latter carefully schooled her expression. "No. It can't be…"

"Can't be what?"

"If this pattern is depicting who I think this, it is really bad news." She crossed her arms and let out a huff. "This carving… is a Great Old One."

"A what now?"

"An eldritch being of tremendous power. This one, though, is very bad news." Cyrus was genuinely worried- Titania was an unflappable person, but now she was practically fretting.

"Does… it have a name?"

"It does, but names have power. It's better to use monikers, to avoid saying the name itself. The Dreamer on the Moon. The Legless One. The Whole Cripple… and this temple holds a cult devoted to him."

"Isn't that wonderful." Looking around, Cyrus could see the carvings of lizardmen on the wall weren't just walking or crawling- they were all kneeling, and the way the room was built made it seem like every single carving was worshiping the figure carved in the the center of the room, its great tentacles covering nearly all of the flour as it stared endlessly into a roof carved with a haphazard pattern Cyrus now recognized as the moon- he had a sinking feeling that if Cthylla was here, she could confirm it was perfectly accurate.

"Say, Ditra, how far ahead is that room with the altar?"

After a few moments, she seemed to realize that he had asked her a question. "Wait wha- sorry. It should be just ahead."

"Say, shouldn't we be seeing more of these lizard men around? I mean, there are entire legions of them carved onto the walls."

Titania stroked her chin for a few seconds before her eyes widened in realization, but the way her expression soured (well, more than usual) gave Cyrus the distinct impression he didn't want to know what she had just realized. "So, let's say there were a lot of these lizard creatures when the temple was first built, but if they managed to lock themselves inside without a key and no way to get food from outside…" She gave a meaningful look at the bones littering the room.

Ditra turned an unflattering shade of green, which wasn't helped by the gentle red glow from her remaining drones. As quickly as she could, she slithered over to a corner and violently threw up. Cyrus quickly pulled her long silver hair out of the way- it would be a shame for it to get covered in sick.

After quite a bit of retching, she managed to raise herself back up, and she didn't have legs that could shake, Cyrus could hear a faint sort of rattle from her tail, like she was shivering.

"Hey Cyrus, think fast." Cyrus quickly turned and managed to catch whatever Titania threw at him- it felt warm in his hand, and when he stopped to look at it, he could see that it was some sort of power cell, maybe? It had ceramic caps on either end which were attached to a glass tube holding… something that growed a brilliant yellow.

"What's this?"

"Something I found while Ditra was busy vacating her lunch from her stomach. I've got a feeling it's important." With a shrug, she led them into the next room, where a strange altar awaited them, golden patterns glowing faintly on its sides.

* * *

The main room was also covered in massive carvings, but in a surprising change of pace there were no carvings of terrible eldritch beings or lizard men, but instead the far wall of the room had a massive sun carved into it, intricately carved rays spreading from it and traveling across the entire room.

His eyes were naturally draw to the altar, a towering brick structure that was decorated extravagantly with gold and beautiful etchings. There was a strange sort of… slot on top of the altar, which seemed to be missing something. It was almost like the slot you would put a battery into…

Then Cyrus pulled the brightly glowing power cell from his pocket, and as he brought it closer to the altar, the yellow light began to throb, getting so hot in his hand he almost wanted to drop it, and some part of him was screaming that he needed to drop it, break it, get it far away… but then he gently slotted the power cell into the altar, and the entire temple rumbled with power, tiny fragments of brick falling down onto their heads.

"What the fuck, Cyrus!"

"There's no need for that kind of language, Titania!" Cyrus could admit that he messed up, of course, but bickering wouldn't keep them alive.

The cell suddenly emptied of whatever yellowish liquid filled it, and the golden light seemed to spread from the altar, lighting up all the engravings in the room making the giant carved sun glow like a brick facsimile of the real thing as the far wall shook and entire bricks fell away, crashing onto the ground.

"Get back! Away from the wall!" Ditra slithered away as Cyrus and Titania flew away on their respective wings as the wall shook itself apart.

Eventually, as the bricks continued falling away, Cyrus could see a form starting to take shape- a cold sneer, a tremendous chest, powerful limbs- a massive brick statue that towered above them, a brilliantly glowing sun on its chest. Then its black, empty eyes lit up with a pair of tiny red pinpricks, and the Golem began to move, loose masonry falling off its sides.

Cyrus drew his flail as it began to march towards them with thunderous steps. Cyrus smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad, if it was so slow- Then the Golem launched its fist with all the speed of a bullet and it managed to clip his artificial leg as he jumped out of the way, and Cyrus knew immediately that he wouldn't be walking on that one for a while.

Both Cyrus and Titania took flight and began pelting the Golem with their respective attacks as it broke the walls apart with its fists and Ditra did her best to move out of the way as it roared and stomped around the room, which felt a lot smaller with their new enemy filling space.

Titania was something of a long range fighter, shooting cutting rays of light with her fingers as Cyrus danced around the Golem up close, hammering away at the brick skin of the Golem with his flail. As he landed a particularly vicious blow directly into the creature's eye, it gave him as much of a glare as its sculpted face could allow before its mouth swung open and a spout of fire burst out, and Cyrus had to dance out of the way to keep the burning hot fire from damaging his wings.

Cyrus distanced himself from the creature and began to fight at range, using length of the flail and its magic projectiles to strike at the Golem from a distance and bait it around, letting Ditra and Titania skirt the sides. It was a shame Ditra couldn't do much to help, but all her drones were really useful for was flying around to get footage, which wouldn't help him much and would only fill the air with more things to dodge.

Unfortunately, the combined efforts of the Golem, Cyrus, and Titania seemed to be doing quite a number on the temple, and he had to wonder if they'd start breaking through walls or anything crazy like that- at least it would give them more room.

At the very least, they seemed to be making progress- Titania's lasers left long cuts and furrows through creature's exterior, and a good whack from the flail would send little chunks of brick flying into the air.

The Golem seemed to focus on Cyrus, but it would occasionally send an errant fist or fireball Titania's way, which she dodged with incredible grace, not that she didn't find them annoying. After one fist got particularly close, she swiped her finger at the chain connecting the fist to the main body, expecting the wave of light she launched to bounce off- only for it to cut right through the chain.

Letting out a bellow of fury, the Golem sent its other fist at Titania, apparently determined to avenge its amputation, and as she dodged, she chuckled. "Dumb as a sack of bricks." With another wave of her hand, she cut the remaining chain, leaving the creature to hop around in a fury and blow more and more fire into the air. Seizing on the creature's anger, Cyrus leapt into the air and delivered a massive strike with his flail onto the top of the Golem's head, forming a tiny crack.

The crack began to grow, masonry splitting apart until the thing's head split apart into two halves, falling away to reveal a cylinder of bricks surrounding a core that burned a brilliant yellow. Great balls of fire formed in the air around the strange brick structure that had replaced its head, and the flames flew towards Cyrus and Titania.

Of course, they both flew out of the way and resumed the fight, but as they did, Ditra inched her way towards one of the halves of the skull, noticing how its eye still burned a bright red, the same color as her drones. As she moved in front of the eye, it flared up and shot out a laser straight at her tail, and she cringed in expectation of a painful wound- that never came. After a second or two, the eye flared up, and when the laser hit her tail it simply bounced off and hit the roof. She grinned. "Oh, I can work with this."

Letting dozens of her drones loose, she let them fly around the room, positioning them perfectly to activate the laser eyes of both head halves, and letting the lasers bounce off her drones and hit the Golem, adding a bit more damage on top of Cyrus' and Titania's attacks.

With three separate sources of damage hammering away at it and the Golem quite literally disarmed, it continued to crumble apart, the golden ichor in its head beginning to leak as the masonry containing it was chipped away. With a shriek, the creature let out a tremendous wave of fire, sending Cyrus flying back and singeing Titania's delicate wings.

Panting, Titania looked up at the creature stomping towards her, and despite its broken appearance it was certainly capable of crushing her flat like a bug. She inhaled deeply and pointed directly at sun pattern on the creature's chest, imagining all the power and light of the real sun, not this pale imitation… before her eyes lit up like spotlights and a brilliant sword of light soared from her finger, cutting the creature in two as she collapsed in exhaustion.

As she collapsed, the Golem did as well, falling apart like all the mortar holding it together just disappeared… or maybe it was magic? Digging through the rubble, Cyrus found two interesting items: an orange pickaxe and a small hatchet, which he took before continuing his search. Eventually, after brushing away quite a bit of stone, he saw a face.

She had skin like terracotta and long dark hair the color of the bricks she lay upon. Her clothes were of a similar shade, although clothes was perhaps a generous term for what was practically armor. The armor was patterned like bricks with a similar sun pattern to her previous form, and it was gently spotted with moss. It was also very thick and dense, but in spite of that… Cyrus could tell the girl was, ahh… built like a brickhouse, so to speak. Cyrus picked the girl up and then walked over to Titania, who was too weak to stand.

She looked up at him and glared. "Don't you dare try that carry shit on me." She struggled her way to her feet, but her legs buckled under her when she tried to stand.

Looking closer, Cyrus could see the burns on her wings and her skin. "You're in no condition to be walking around like that, Titania. Unless you want to be subject to my gentle care while in a grody temple?"

She sighed. "You start getting grabby and I'll perform laser eye surgery, is that clear?"

"Crystal." Walking around with a girl in each arm was tricky, but he managed to meander over to Ditra, who was herding her drones back into position and carefully fitting them back into her tail.

"You done?"

"Almost." After a few particularly aggressive shoves, she managed to get her last drone into its position and turned to Cyrus. "I guess you're in no state to grab the mirror. Which pocket is it in?"

"Right." With that, she fished the mirror out of his pocket and made sure she was touching all three of the other people in the room before activating the mirror as the temple groaned under its own weight.

* * *

Back at home, Cyrus dropped both girls off at the sickroom before managing to escape- Titania clearly did not appreciate being manhandled, and he didn't want to stick around for too long. It was still a little cold out, but Cyrus had a craving for seeing the sky right now- that underground temple was miserable, and it made him savor the sunlight even more now.

Logically, those two desires led him to the greenhouse he had constructed, where he found Aria working in the dirt, surrounded by a great number of verdant plants (that was another strange thing. Some part of his brain told him the plants grew too quickly here, days instead of months or even years in the case of trees).

"Hello, Cyrus. You look well. Does that mean the temple wasn't too bad?"

Cyrus sighed. "Oh, it wasn't fun, but I got out of it alright. Abigail's fretting over Titania's burns right now."

"Hmmph. Titania. I will admit the girl has a remarkable eye for flowers, but her condescension… Ugh!" She huffed and stuck her trowel into the ground. "She told me to rip up the blinkroot, if you'd believe it! 'It ruins a perfectly good flower garden' my ass…"

Cyrus chuckled. Titania may not have realized it, but every plant grown in the greenhouse had some sort of practical purpose, even if the moonglows or fireblossoms also looked really good while doing so. "And how are the pumpkins?"

"Overall, they're pretty good and are growing in well, but one of them…"

"One of them?"

"I'll show you." Standing up and wiping the dirt off her skirt (conveniently forgetting the dirt caking her hands) she led him between carefully marked rows of plants. Aria's portion of the greenhouse was downright scientific, compared to the more… laissez faire attitudes of Nissa and Picea. She seemed determined to maximize yield, to find the best possible way to grow everything- and it was a very useful hobby, Cyrus did admit.

Eventually, she brushed aside a few leaves to reveal one of the most vile pumpkins Cyrus had ever seen- it was stumpy and far too wide, and it seemed to have grown in a way that made it look just like a jack o' lantern. "Eugh, what happened to that?"

"I wish I knew, Cyrus. Best guess I have is that it's the closest plant to Lacrima's little tailoring workshop. Maybe it's some of that funky soul stuff she brought back from the dungeon that's warping the plant?"

Cyrus shrugged. At some point, you had to stop questioning things. "And how's the nursing going?"

"Pretty well. There's a lot of stuff you need to learn before you can really start working in medicine like she does. And here I thought it was just potions."

"She says they have negative consequences long term, you know."

She cringed. "Oh yeah, nasty stuff. 'Do you value your liver, Aria?' that whole shtick."

"Do you… have a liver?"

"I… think? Obviously, Abigail can't really study my anatomy, but we can make educated guesses and work off what we already know."

"Like…"

"I can eat food like a human, so that probably means a normal digestive system. I've got chlorophyll or something like it in the skin, a beating heart, and as far as we can tell a functioning-" She stopped talking all of a sudden and flushed. "Never mind! I should probably go help Abigail!" She ran off, leaving Cyrus alone in the greenhouse.

* * *

Just due to proximity, he found himself outside of Lacrima's door- he had knocked, but had been told that she busy with the final touches on an outfit, but if he wanted to wait and see her newest work he could.

So he waited, idly fiddling with a golden coin he had managed to pick up along his journeys. Part of him wondered where exactly it got minted, who cut it into shape and put a pattern on it, but the rest of his mind was focused on trying to remember coin tricks. Of course, that was the sort of important stuff he had vague memories of, and boring things like his upbringing or potential family drew blanks.

As he palmed the gold coin for the fifteenth time, feeling the gold in his hands, the door opened… and he was glomped.

"Cyrus!" The complete lack of personal space and mop of aquamarine hair meant that it was Aqua who had hug tackled him.

"Aqua, what did we say about asking people first?" She reluctantly let go and took a few steps back, allowing Cyrus to see the green dress she was wearing- it was admittedly pretty short cut, but it was better than running around in a swimsuit.

"Pleeease?" She gave him puppy dog eyes, but he was already convinced before the started begging- it was just trying to get her into the habit. Cyrus did not want to see what happened if she tried the glomping trick on Andi without asking (not that she would say yes).

"Sure." She wrapped her arms around him again and he ruffled her hair.

"Sometimes it feels like you're moving in on our territory, Aqua." Lacrima followed a bit behind, but her smile reassured Cyrus she wasn't angry at Aqua.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you hug Cyrus anymore I might have worry that you're trying to steal him away."

"But Cyrus is so huggable!" She squeezed harder and he chuckled. "And what do you mean, steal him away? Cyrus isn't yours, he's… his!"

"Well, Cyrus is dating other people."

She tilted her head to the side, a curious expression on her face and Cyrus' heart sunk. "What's dating?"

"Well, ahh… when two people are romantically interested in each other, they go on dates. They spend time together, get to know each other, maybe even get intimate…"

"That sounds fun. Can I go on a date with you, or Cyrus?"

"Well, when you're dating someone, it's supposed to be exclusive. I'm dating Cyrus and Cyrus is dating several people."

Aqua seemed more confused at that. "Wait… You can only date Cyrus, but Cyrus can date other people? I'm confused…" After a few seconds, she perked up. "Can I date Cyrus?"

"Well, in theory, but I'm worried you don't really understand what dating is. Can we talk alone for a bit?" Cyrus recognized when it was time to bow out, and exited as Lacrima struggled to explain the concept of dating. At least it wasn't as bad as Francisca…

Cyrus froze. He did not need to imagine a Francisca who was trying to date him right now. Maybe he should find something to keep his mind off of things…

* * *

Bea was busy cooking something that Cyrus could smell from rooms away, and he followed the tempting scent all the way to the kitchen. Bea was bustling, moving around the kitchen and preparing a truly massive meal- every new girl was a new mouth to feed, after all, and Cyrus wondered if she'd need help if their village grew any bigger.

She smiled at him as she moved around the kitchen. "Hullo, Cyrus! How are you?"

"Good. The jungle temple went well, it's good to _bee_ back. "

Bea chuckled. "Well, do you have any requests, _honey_?"

"Maybe just… a little less meat?"

"What's up with that? Did Titania browbeat you into respecting the animals?"

"No… It's just… the temple put me off meat for a while…" Lizard cannibalism really managed to dampen his appetite, if you'd believe it.

"Well then I'll work around that. There are some vegetarian recipes I wanted to try…" She muttered something Cyrus barely managed to catch. "I do enjoy cooking for you."

Cyrus grinned. "I'm glad to hear that."

Bea blushed and stuttered a reply. "Cooking for… you all, of course!" Cyrus couldn't bring himself to press her any further.

"Can I help?"

"Sure. I assume all that fighting means you can handle a knife without cutting yourself?"

"Of course!"

* * *

Aria and Abigail were laughing at him, although the former's laughter was a bit less biting than the latter's. "I get it, I get it!"

"You do have to admit it's a little ironic, right? One of the strongest warriors in the world and…" she chuckled as she wrapped a bandage around his finger. Bea had forced him to go see Abigail when he cut himself, telling him to get out while cleaning the droplets of blood he had managed to spill while cutting carrots.

"It's just… embarrassing."

"You shouldn't be afraid to admit that you can't do something, Cyrus. Maybe it's destiny or something… fate conspiring to make sure that you have the support you need."

"Fate decided I needed a… professional chef?" Well, if so, Cyrus certainly wasn't complaining that stars aligned to fill his stomach with good food.

"Well when you put it like that… but it certainly seems we're all building towards something, isn't it? There's a path you can trace- continuous, non stop growth. Maybe the world is preparing you for… something. What that something is, I don't know."

* * *

Cyrus dreamt of the stars. He dreamt of the sun, burning bright, bringer of life to the world, and the planets that danced around it. His home, his world, a glimmering sapphire hanging in the black, one of the tiny green specks on it surface holding everything he's ever known. But he dreamt of others, too. A planet baked by the sun, one that was covered in dense clouds, and one as red as blood. He swore he dreamt of a swarm of lights, like fireflies, depart from their reddish homeworld and fly towards his home.

He dreamt of the moon, gleaming brilliantly in the light of the sun, dark black mares, like the seas of earth, and chalk grey highlands standing high above the flats. Then he dreamt of the dark side of the moon, where the only light was from burning stars and splendid pink nebulas that covered the sky like clouds. He could only tell where the mountains were because they blocked the stars- the ground was inky black.

He turned, and saw a door. It was massive, and towered far above him. He could barely see it in the dark, but its corners glowed dimly, giving him a faint outline. One corner was a brilliant orange, like the sun, another was vivid pink, like the nebula in the sky above him, and the other two were a brilliant blue and a pale green. Cyrus knew that he didn't want to see that door opened, and very faintly, he could hear impacts on the other side, like something was desperately trying to get out.

He woke up with a start, sweat pouring down his body, and knew he wasn't going to get any sleep for the rest of the night. He decided to get something to drink.

His cooking skills were good enough to pour himself a glass of milk, which he drank as he idly wandered the halls. Thankfully, he didn't sleep in his armor, or he would have woken up the entire village with his stomping.

He almost decided to go to the greenhouse, to see the stars without freezing himself to death, but the subject matter of his dream convinced him not to, but before he could come up with some other destination to walk to, he saw something bright in the corner of his eye.

He turned and saw Titania, and she glowing in the moonlight- quite literally. Her wings in particular were sending a beautiful mix of colored light onto the walls, dying the dark wood of the walls a bright mix of pastel colors. He took a step towards her, and her serene expression soured as she turned to look at him.

"Cyrus."

"Titania. Couldn't sleep?" He took a seat next to her, and she didn't move away even if she gave him a fierce glare.

"No, not that it's any of your business."

"We may not get along, but I can look after your health, can't I?"

"And you're a hypocrite too."

Cyrus sighed. That particular line of conversation was a dead end. "So… that sword thing you did back with the Golem. It was really something."

She huffed. "Nothing but a pale imitation of the genuine article. Perhaps we'll have to have a rematch one day. I'd bury you when the sun's out, I promise."

Cyrus smiled. "You keep me alive until everything's settled down… and you have yourself a deal."

"Well, that'll be a pain, but it'll be worth it to whip your ass."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of us not aware of the intricacies of the English language, to be built like a brickhouse usually means overdesigned, but in the case of a woman's figure… it means she's thicc, as the kids say.
> 
> We're getting closer to the endgame now, folks. I'm thinking of maybe doing something with the pillars- maybe a sort of one mind/soul, four bodies sort of deal? Tell me what you think.
> 
> I took some inspiration from that Lovecraftian staple, The Shadow over Innsmouth, but instead of fishmen it's lizardmen. If you're interested in the whole dating a Lovecraftian deity idea and can't wait for the Moon Lady, I would recommend checking out "Ow, my sanity". It's on hiatus, but it's a fun little ride: the girls are cute but undeniably alien/weird. It goes much further into Lovecraft than I do. I would warn that the author also has skill at drawing some disturbing Lovecraft shit as well as cute girls. Watching a Lovecraftian entity learn what emotions are is classic.
> 
> I thought games would distract me from writing… it seems like writing has distracted me from games lol. I'm really glad I got back into writing- I enjoy it so much.
> 
> Next will either be the cultist, or some other side girls. I paved the way for a pumpkin moon soon, and there's been no pirate or martian invasion yet. An alien girl and a pirate wench would make intersting additions to the cast, or maybe the nymph? Or old's one army, which according to my rules is going to probably be a 3 waifu deal, which would probably finally kill me with all the character bloat.


	16. A Touch of Lunacy

Even after talking with Titania, Cyrus couldn't get much sleep- his dream left him feeling antsy, and after a bit of contemplation he decided to visit the dungeon later in the day. He had never actually seen all the changes that had apparently taken place within those strange halls; although Lacrima had regaled him with tales of the mysterious catacombs and their cursed inhabitants, they had never interested him before, but he suddenly felt an urge to get as far underground as possible, to isolate himself from the sky for a bit.

Of course, he wasn't going to just up and leave in the middle of the night without telling anyone (not to mention that he definitely wasn't feeling like taking a long look at the stars right about now) so he decided to wait, and he should probably get some breakfast in him before descending into the horrors of the dungeon. He always felt more capable of taking on the world after eating a good meal; it wasn't a specially prepared potion, but damn, it certainly felt like it.

They talked over breakfast; it was quite the major social event now, and the one meal Cyrus was basically guaranteed to not miss (with the exception of hospital visits). All the food of a decently sized feast- they were feeding more than two dozen people, several of which happened to be more voracious than most- and Cyrus honestly had to wonder how Bea managed it all. Cyrus could understand pouring his all into a passion- even if his particular 'passion' or skill was very efficiently making living things nonliving- but it had to be exhausting. Cyrus had to wonder if she drafted people for it, since she had to cook so much food; however, she had practically annexed the kitchen and was surprisingly protective of her domain- except for Cyrus, for a reason he didn't like to contemplate.

Breakfast was unusually quiet, for whatever reason, and after finishing off some complex breakfast pastry that was almost to beautiful to eat, he broke the silence. "So… I was planning on heading down to the dungeon later today, to see all the new sights." He turned to Lacrima, who was meandering her way through an apple. "You said it changed, didn't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah. The skeletons got real nasty and are much better armed. Big suit of armor stomping around down there too- and, if you'd believe it, ghosts."

Judith, the steampunker who helped hook up their teleportation network, looked up from her plate, curious. "Ghosts, you say? Truly?"

"Honest to goodness, I swear. Occasionally, when Francisca killed one of the skeletons, a little sort of… ghostly spirit would pop out. I'd finish them off and collect the ectoplasm- you know, the blue white misty stuff?"

Judith hummed at that. "It seems… strange. I know that magic exists, of course, I have seen it in action as well, but… ghosts and spirits?"

Titania chuckled. "Maybe you haven't seen what the world really has to offer. It's teeming with spirits and powers just below the surface, almost like an iceberg- so much of the mystical world is hidden from our view."

"You say our, but how do you know about it?" Cyrus was curious- how did she have all this mystical knowledge?

"Memories from my previous form, I assume. I remember sensing the world differently- I could feel the spirits humming the air, strange powers that I can't see anymore. It's like loosing my eyes or closing a window- a fundamental part of how I processed the world… gone."

Some of the other boss girls started to murmur their sympathies, but turned up her nose and silenced them all. "I don't need your pity." And like that, whatever bridges the girls were trying to build were immediately toppled.

"About your dungeon trip, Cyrus… what if the new girl wakes up while you're out? She seems to be stirring already… a remarkably quick riser, this one." Abigail asked.

Cyrus thought for a moment and then sighed. "I suppose I can stay around until she wakes up if you're so confident… but I'd just like to start out before it gets dark."

"What's up Cyrus, afraid of the dark, poor baby?" Andi chuckled, a piece of charred black bacon in her hand- not the result of a cooking mistake on Bea's part, but instead Andi's personal preference. Why she liked eating charcoal, Cyrus wasn't sure. Maybe it reminded her of her hellish home? Actually, he wasn't sure if any of the girls had nostalgia for their old homes- would Medulla prefer a trip back to the Crimson or would Aria like a trip to the jungle?

Cyrus looked up. "Say, do any of you girls miss home? Well, the biome you came from? Is the forest a good place for all of you?"

Annelida thought about it for a few seconds before responding. "Well… maybe for old time's sake? I can't remember the Corruption well- what was it like?"

"Very creepy. Unnerving in a way that was hard to describe- like the land itself was somehow cursed or warped. I mean I'd be willing to take a day trip or something or maybe make a house… but I couldn't live there. It would make me sick."

Medulla perked up as well. "Can you tell me what the Crimson was like?"

"Similar vibe, but not exactly the same. I wouldn't want to live there, just because the landscape is so visceral. Like walking through a rotting corpse. There was a bit of strange beauty to both of them- the beautiful purples and reds- but there was something so undeniably off about both…"

Medulla sighed and looked down in disappointment. "That's a shame. I would like to see what's it like, just once."

"I'd be happy to take you, of course. Just… I wouldn't want to stay. Maybe you'll manage in the biomes better, or you might just have lost the part of yourself that made you like the Crimson?"

"Who knows, I guess we'll just have to find out."

Cyrus smiled. "It's a date then."

* * *

Cyrus found himself back in the sickroom again- maybe Abigail should start charging rent? Their newest guest was resting, but seemed to be getting close to waking up, or at least that's what Abigail told him. Her chest was rising and falling gently even under her heavy armor, but of course Cyrus wasn't one to judge a person for unusual casual wear.

"So… anything unusual about this girl, Abigail?" Cyrus sat down next to the bed, a pitcher of water next to him.

The nurse sat down on the other side of the bed. "Not really, no. The armor covers a lot of her figure, so I can't get specifics."

"Isn't that unusual? None of the other girls had armor, did they? It seems a little… martial, doesn't it?"

"Well, Francisca has all sorts of weapons built into her arms, and Titania has all those tricks with light… the armor's just clothes, after all."

As they talked, the subject of their conversation stirred, until eventually her eyes fluttered open, revealing a pair of brilliant amber eyes like Aqua's. She licked her cracked lips. "Water. Can I get… some water?"

Cyrus obliged and passed her the entire pitcher- no use in pouring her a glass if she was going to drink it all, right?

And drink it all she did, until there was nothing but ice left in the pitcher. "Thank you kindly, stranger. Who are you?"

"I'm Cyrus. And you?"

"My name is Terra."

Cyrus chuckled a little. "Terra… as in terra-cotta? Like ceramics?"

"I suppose so?" She shrugged. "I guess there's some pun value there. Whatever."

"You hungry or anything?"

She smiled. "Very."

* * *

Lacrima and the twins had volunteered to join him on his little trip, but before they all left in the direction of the dungeon, Bea came rushing out, a bunch of packages in her hands. "Wait up! I've got something for you!"

"What is it?"

Bea flushed a little, and Cyrus could almost imagine her twiddling her fingers or fulfilling some other nervous tic, if her hands weren't full of boxes. "I made some lunches for all four of you. Figured I'd make some use out of them before that Terra girl eats us out of house and home."

"Wait… is she that bad?"

"I think it's her metabolism; she burns through food something fierce. She volunteered to help, which is certainly a relief." Bea passed them the boxes and scratched her cheek. "I will admit that some more help would be nice… Competent help."

Cyrus laughed before putting his hand over his heart in a melodramatic fashion, "Ohh! How you wound me! That really hurts, Bea. I can't bee-lieve you'd insult me like that."

Bea chuckled. "Be safe out there, alright? Lacrima, Asta, Tina- keep an eye on him, won't you? Make sure none of the skeletons are carrying kitchen knives, you know?"

* * *

Cyrus was genuinely curious about the new features of the dungeon, and what sort of strange new treasures may be in store. He had seen some really weird places while out exploring, and he had to admit he was something of an addict to exploration. Of course, he knew it was dangerous, but there was so much to see, so much to do- how could he sit by the side and twiddle his thumbs when he knew a whole world was out there to experience?

It had been ages since Cyrus had looked upon the blue bricks of the dungeon- he had explored it before, but that was quite a while back, shortly after Lacrima joined their number. "It's kind of nostalgic, honestly. I still remember fighting your previous form, Lacrima."

Lacrima chuckled and flushed in embarrassment. "I'm glad you got better. It wasn't fun to wake up and realize everyone was angry at me for hurting you."

"It's fine. I probably deserve to get my ass kicked every once in a while- keeps me humble, ya know."

Asta and Tina, seemed curious, and one of them- red eyes, so it was Tina- spoke up. "I don't remember hearing about that. You'll have to regale us with that particular tale…" She seemed to end her sentence, and Cyrus perked up, before she continued with a smirk. "Sir."

Cyrus groaned. "Please don't call me that." She gave him a grin that might have been perfectly innocent on Cthylla's face- and Cyrus would have bought it- but he knew her better. He sighed. "Well okay, Lacrima's story is kind of interesting, and starts with a mysterious person at the dungeon's entrance…"

Asta perked up. "Like that person?" Cyrus looked where she was pointing, and sure enough, there was a strange person standing at the entrance of the dungeon, although their figure was obscured by a great flowing coat made of blue fabric with gold trim. Fine runes were written into the garment's hem with brilliant silver threads, but the strangest thing about this figure's get up was their mask.

The figure's mask was as white as bone, with a long, birdlike nose (Cyrus' brain provided the term plague doctor, but once again it seemed unwilling to tell him anything else. What plague?). The mask had eye holes cut into it, sharp and angular, and it gave the impression that the figure was permanently glaring at him.

They were murmuring in a strange language Cyrus couldn't understand and wildly gesticulated with their gloved hands, which glowed with a strange golden aura… an aura that seemed to link the figure to a massive tablet that hovered in the air, surrounded by a strange golden fire that made it hard to look at- if you'd even want to, considering the incredibly ugly face carved onto the stone of the tablet. It was a mess of tentacles and strange runes, and just like the carvings in the Jungle temple there was something deeply unnatural about it that nearly made Cyrus sick.

The figure seemed to notice them, but was too caught up in managing the tablet to pay them any mind. The long nose of their mask gently bobbed up and down as they analyzed every inch of the thing, the fire around the disk growing brighter as they spoke and dimming as they stayed silent.

Cyrus was quite excited; it was rare to meet a stranger around these parts, at least one who wasn't spawned from a terrible monster. He took a step forward and greeted the figure. "Hey! Need some help?"

The figure didn't reply, and was completely enraptured with the disk in front of them. After a few moments of silence, Cyrus figured that whatever this disk was, it incredibly important, so much so that they felt they couldn't pay attention to anything else.

Cyrus circled the disk, looking up and down its strange, carved figures. The etchings continued onto the back of the disk- and the sides too, it was strangely thick, easily a hand's breadth- and if the subject matter was a bit more pleasant, it would have been beautiful. Minor chips and scratches detracted from the craftsmanship, but it was still a work of art. He couldn't help but wonder what it was made of- he had never seen a substance quite like it, and it was undeniably alien.

He reached out to touch it, and was surprised by how… cold the fire felt. He had never felt such a chill before, and he couldn't help but want to touch the disk's surface, and when one of his gloved fingers tapped the surface, the fire disappeared with a flash as the cloaked figure let out a horrifying wail, long and drawn out.

Within moments, the disk began to crack and shatter, great seams spider-webbing across the surface before it disintegrated in the air- leaving him face to face with the figure, who lunged at Cyrus with a terrible keening cry.

Cyrus stumbled back on his artificial leg before kicking off and flying low, skirting inches above the ground as the cultist glowed with magical power and flew after him. With a strange, looping hand gesture the figure was surrounded by four balls of fire which orbited around them like moons- before flying at Cyrus in sequence.

Oh, this was going to be interesting. He dove out of the way, flying mere inches above the grass and flattening it with the beating of his wings. He looked back to see the cultist making a strange gesture, more angular, like they were drawing a star in the air or something. This time, a tremendous ball of ice appeared in front of them and flew at Cyrus, sending great icicle chunks flying through the air.

Cyrus had to swerve around to avoid the icicles- they had a strange spread, sinking into the ground and particularly unfortunate trees if they didn't go flying high in to the skies. He made sure to start responding with his flail.

He flew in close with hopes of landing a direct hit, and he could hear the figure's chanting as he approached, in some strange tongue that garbled any possible meaning. Just before Cyrus' flail landed in the person's stomach, they teleported away with a flash of brilliant light; Cyrus turned to look at them just as they made a gesture like a lightning bolt- before a tremendous flash and a sound like a cannon.

The next thing he knew, he was soaring away from the figure, falling towards the ground, which was more of a green blur than anything remotely recognizable. Just before he was about to face plant into the hard soil, he turned his fall into a somersault that transformed into a leap that sent him back into the air with most of his speed.

With an echoing laugh, the figure seemed to split into three similar figures, and they separated before a tremendous circle appeared between them. The chanting grew louder now, but Cyrus thought it sounded weird- it didn't seem like three people speaking, it still seemed like one. Cyrus took an experimental swing at one of the figures, only for the flail to phase right through them. The cultist let out a horrible laugh before a massive dragon flew from the summoning circle, the sun shining through its transparent scales.

The cultist and their doppelgangers danced through the air, firing off more strange magical attacks while letting the dragon get up close and personal. The ghostly wyvern soared straight at him, and Cyrus exploited the thing's incorporeal nature- and he sent his flail flying down the length of the thing as it howled in fury.

Eventually, he managed to defeat the thing while dodging great balls of fire which singed the ground and thunderbolts that split trees down the middle. Eventually, the cultists sprouted another two doppelgangers- meaning there were five now- and they started chanting again. Cyrus was sure now- only one of them was actually talking, the rest weren't there. He looked between the figures, desperate to find any minor difference between them, when he spotted it. Four of the figures had incorrect masks- the eye holes were circular- while only one had the original's glare.

Cyrus grinned and struck out with his flail, magical bubbles striking the real deal as the fakes disappeared into puffs of smoke as the summoning circle shattered. So that was it.

Now that he knew who to aim for, things became much easier, and none of the doppelgangers lasted very long after their initial appearances. Just as he was getting used to the cultist's tempo and started to recognize the spells that were associated with the various hand gestures, they made a new one, and Cyrus was immediately suspicious.

It was a massive circular gesture that took the cultist a few seconds to do, and Cyrus got a few licks in before flying away, unwilling to get close to whatever the cultist had in store. A great skull sprung from the figure's outstretched hands, a dark purple apparition that seemed to dissolve as it flew through the air, long ribbons of purple magic trailing behind it.

Cyrus had learned that magic with skulls tended to be especially nasty and he made sure to fly out of the way; before the skull burst into four deep purple blasts, and Cyrus had to dive into the treeline to avoid them- not that he regretted it, considering the aura of sheer malevolence that those balls were surrounded by. His armor meant that he did more damage to the trees than the limbs did to him, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable.

The cultist let out a furious cry and sent massive balls of fire into the forest in an attempt to smoke him out as Cyrus struck with the flail, nearly felling trees with every blow. Eventually, Cyrus was forced to flee from the forest as the smoke grew too thick to bear, but he opened up with a flurry of blows as he leapt from the foliage.

The magical attacks honestly weren't that bad, and he could dodge them more often than not; however, the Cultist just just as good at avoidance as Cyrus was, in addition to being capable of teleporting. Cyrus was honestly a little jealous- what he wouldn't give to be able of teleporting!

Eventually, as the cultist sent another massive ball of ice, Cyrus had another one of his trademark stupid ideas- he managed to use his hook to swing around the thing while it was in air, letting him get up incredibly close the figure and land a decisive blow to their mask before flying away. Looking back, he could see that they were still on the offense, but there was a massive crack across the mask.

Unfortunately, the cultist was clever enough to catch on quickly, and was much more happy to teleport from Cyrus, to the point where he could barely get within range and could only hit the figure with bubbles. Sure, they were magical, empowered bubbles, but watching them pop against the figure's cloak didn't do much for his confidence.

The sky began to darken, so long had they struggled for, and while some of the more showy attacks became easier to dodge, that strange purple spell became dangerously hard to track. Sometimes, he dodged on pure instinct alone, guessing where the attacks were coming from because the only trace of the attack he saw was the cultist's strange gesturing.

Nevertheless, it was clear that both of them were exhausted- the time between the cultist's spells was steadily growing, not that Cyrus could really exploit that considering how much his own fatigue dragged him down. He started using his hook more and more as the fight dragged on, as it let it him maintain his speed and move around horizontally without having to exhaust himself.

Suddenly, Cyrus realized that there was something of a pattern to the cultist's teleportation, in the way it tried to exploit his blind spots by teleporting directly behind him. He smiled and approached normally, but when the cultist teleported away Cyrus used his hook to arrest his momentum and he turned it into a spin- sending the head of the flail directly into the cultist's face, shattering the mask into a collection of porcelain shards which gleamed in the moonlight.

However, the figure themselves didn't disintegrate into smoke, and Cyrus dove to catch the person- and once he caught them, he could feel feminine curves in his arms- and he managed to land safely near the dungeon's entrance, where the other girls were waiting for him.

They seemed to have made something of a picnic out of it- their lunches (except for his, thankfully) were finished- and they rose to greet him as he landed. "That was a long one, wasn't it Cyrus?" Lacrima chuckled.

"I suppose. This lady could certainly dodge."

"This _lady_?" Lacrima quirked her head.

"Well, it's kind of the trend by this point, but I mean, look at her!" She was actually quite the sight- the mask and hood covered up a beautiful, narrow face and the billowy robes hid a svelte figure. Her hair was long and as black as pitch, and a few of the long strands were caught in her glasses, and Cyrus had to wonder how the pair of spectacles survived it all.

"She's very pretty… I wonder if she'll want to keep the robes? I'm sure I could make something fetching for her." Lacrima was looking at her speculatively.

Asta picked up his lunch box and gestured to him. "Maybe you should get something to eat, Cyrus. Set her down, it's not like she's going to-"

Just before Asta could finish speculating about when the girl might wake up, she did, her eyes snapping open to reveal a brilliant pair of blues, the same color as her robes. "What… have you done?" she croaked.

Cyrus gulped. "What… have I done?"

"You've unleashed… something terrible." Her eyes closed once more; before Cyrus could question what exactly he had managed to unleash, but it seemed like the world gave him his answer when the ground itself trembled terribly.

* * *

"What the-" Cyrus looked up, and saw four brilliant pillars of light, burning brilliantly in the sky. Behind them, past the dungeon, was a brilliant orange light that reached towards the stars, and the others were similar, although of different colors. Soft blue, vivid pink, a sickly sort of green… Cyrus realized they were the same colors on the doorway in his dream.

"That doesn't look too good."

"You think?"

Cyrus sighed before pulling out the mirror. "This is gonna be a little awkward since there are five of us, but I think we can manage. Huddle up, everyone!"

Everyone was in a bit of a hubbub when they got back, obviously due to the brilliant lights in the sky. The columns were still up in the sky when they returned, and Cyrus wondered how long they would be staying- they were fairly inspiring at first, but he imagined they'd get annoying quickly, especially if they were glaring through windows or the like.

In fact, someone already seemed more than annoyed. "My eyes! Ahh! Does someone have a pair of sunglasses?"

Cyrus followed the shouting to find Cthylla, who was valiantly trying to hide from the windows. He taped her shoulder gently and she turned, although she was still covering her eyes. "Cyrus? What did you do?"

He chuckled and scratched the back of his head (not that she could see). "Why do you assume it's me?"

"Because you're always pulling stuff like this, Cyrus." He supposed she was right; the world seemed to always be changing thanks to things Cyrus did.

"You wound me." Cyrus put his hand on her shoulder. "I think I can get those sunglasses for you… think I have a few black lenses. I'll get to it."

She gave him a beatific smile and leaned in to kiss him, and who was he to refuse?

* * *

Cyrus managed to craft a pair of sunglasses for the girl, and he did have to admit she looked pretty good with them on, for the most part. "They look great. It's just a shame that they cover up your eyes."

She flushed prettily. "Oh, thank you. Seriously though, what did you do to get those lights going?"

"I stopped a cultist. She's in the sickroom. I gather she knows more about the situation than I do, but until she wakes up we're flying blind."

"Our very own Cyrus, flying blind? What a shock."

Cyrus chuckled. "Well, I've handled everything so far, haven't I? We should probably get everyone together and explain exactly what's going on."

* * *

"Yeah, uh, Cyrus, what the fuck?" Andi seemed annoyed, although Cyrus supposed he would be as well if a bunch of random beacon lights just sprung up out of nowhere while he was preparing for bed.

"So I found a weird magical disk…" Cyrus expected the chorus of groans that rang out, but that didn't make him feel any less embarassed.

Titania sighed. "And let me guess, you touched it?"

The twins giggled before answering in perfect sync. "He touched it."

"I beat the cultist up, and after I defeated her she said something about me unleashing something terrible."

This was of course followed by a few mutters of "of course", although Cyrus wasn't sure if that was due to the gender of their new guest or his own stupidity- or both.

"So we've got no idea what she was warning us about?" Medulla seemed concerned, and was adjusting her glasses nervously.

"Well, I assume it's something to do with the giant lights, but who knows?"

Titania nodded. "There's something… alien about them. I can just tell, deep in my bones." She groaned. "I can't believe you've done this, Cyrus."

"Well… I mean I'll run out of things to kill eventually, right?"

After a few moments of awestruck silence, their second newest guest, Terra, spoke up. "Well, that's all well and good, I suppose… but I might be able to help improve your armor."

"Really?" Cyrus looked down at his armor- the turtle shell armor which looked so strong at first didn't look as good. He felt a little bad that he was ruining the girl's hard work, and he definitely wouldn't mind her patching it up a little.

"Yep yep. Can you take it off?" Several of the girls flushed, but Cyrus began to carefully undo the straps and belts that kept the armor on.

"Hey hey hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Visca looked scandalized, but quite a few of the girls seemed more interested in watching than anything. Nicola in particular was staring, nearly transfixed.

"Do you think I don't wear clothes under my armor? Come on- without something under it, it would be all sharp, hard edges on my skin."

Cyrus gave the armor over to Terra, and she handled it with remarkable grace. The stuff was very heavy, but she handled it with one hand easily, and after a quick "thank you!" she walked off and got to work, leaving Cyrus bare. It was a strange feeling, to be sure. He was so used to wearing armor that going without while not in his room was a little weird.

One of the girls- Regina, maybe?- gave an appreciative whistle. "Damn, the armor really covers up those muscles."

After a moments of silence, she spoke up again. "Wait, did I say that out loud?"

* * *

Eventually, Cyrus managed to track Terra and his armor down, and he joined Judith and Meredith in watching her at work. And damn, she could work, hammering away at the armor and attaching some sort of strange, chitinous substance to it.

Cyrus leaned over to Judith, keeping his voice low so he didn't interrupt Terra's work. "What's she adding to the armor? I can't recognize it."

Judith chuckled a little. "Blimey, I could hardly believe it- beetle shells! Bleeding massive beetle shells!"

Cyrus whistled. "Well, do you think they're good?"

"Aye. I could barely scratch 'em with my finest hammer, and here this lassie goes, hammering 'em into shape with a few blows. She's really something."

She definitely was, and Cyrus definitely admired her, but he had to wonder how she was handling all this heat- she had a raging fire going to help shape the armor and mend it properly, in addition to wearing that thick, dense armor.

"I'm gonna grab her some ice water."

* * *

Before Cyrus could start wondering where to get ice from, he bumped into Crista, nearly sending her to the floor, but she recovered with grace. "Hello, Cyrus." she looked down at the glass of water he was holding, which he had managed to keep from spilling. "You want me to cool that?"

"How did you know?"

"Who likes their water lukewarm, huh?" She gave the glass a gentle tap, and the cup grew freezing cold, to the point that Cyrus almost wanted to drop it.

"Want to come with? Terra's working on something interesting."

"Sure, why not?"

* * *

They came in as Terra was finishing the job, and she sat down a beautiful helm that looked almost beetle like, a pair of ridges serving as faux antenna. She turned around, and jumped back in surprise when she realized that she had company. "Oh… hi there."

"Want some water?" She nodded, and drank greedily of the water, spare droplets going down her chin as she gulped it down in seconds.

"Aaahh. That's really satisfying, but I'm still hot." She turned to Cyrus. "You think I could just go outside to cool off?"

Cyrus chuckled. "That might work, but we've got a better option right here." He gestured to Crista, who gave Terra's chestplate a gentle tap.

"Wow. That's really something, but now that I'm done with the armor, put it on!" She seemed very excited all of a sudden, and he couldn't help but oblige the girl.

His new armor fit like a glove, and it was definitely visually impressive, gleaming beautifully in the light of the forge. There was even a complex mechanism to allow his wings through without compromising the integrity of the armor. "This really is something. How'd you do it?"

"Well, I just layered the shells over the turtle armor, using them to boost the integrity in places. Wouldn't be nearly as good without a solid foundation, after all." Judith and Meredith both puffed up a little, proud of a job well done.

"But… where did you get the shells?"

She give him a grin. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"… Yeah?"

"It's to do with my armor, actually. It's supposed to regenerate itself in sunlight, and it produces all this super hard chitin to do so... but it's wasted if I'm not damaging my armor. So… I figured I'd make productive use of it."

"Your armor repairs itself in sunlight?" Meredith seemed interested, and Cyrus couldn't help but agree. Not having to repair his armor or replace it entirely after every scrap would be a marvelous change of pace.

* * *

Cyrus had taken up his vigil in the sickroom once again, hoping to hear more from the cultist girl, and whatever mysterious doom they were facing in the immediate future. The towers of light in the distance hadn't dimmed at all, and burned brightly even in the light of the sun.

Looking at the girl sprawled out over the bed, Cyrus had to admit it was a remarkable change. He could barely imagine such a slip of a girl being capable of dishing out such incredible damage, but he supposed that was the advantage of magic, that you didn't need extreme physical strength to get the job done.

Eventually, her eyes opened… only for her to send a venomous glare his way. "You again. Have you realized the tremendous magnitude of your failure?"

"Could you enlighten me, miss?"

She sighed. "Well I suppose if you're too much of a phillistine to realize how bad your situation is, I'm obligated to explain things to you."

"Before you get any funny ideas about me being some sort of lunatic cultist, I will have you know that I wasn't summoning something- I was holding it back."

"Is the thing you were holding back what you warned me about?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course. You saw the brilliant lights in the sky, I assume? Those are a stopgap… temporary measures to control it until a more proper seal can be established."

Cyrus perked up at that. "So, all we need to do is restore whatever funky magical ritual you were doing and things will go back to normal?"

"No. First off, the ritual required that carved disc- the one you broke into tiny pieces and disintegrated."

Cyrus had the decency to look embarrassed at this point. "Woops."

She glared at him. "Woops indeed. Anyone touching it would have ruined it, but you were the one who did it. Maybe, if I beat you quickly enough I could have scraped together something… but since you kicked the shit out of me, I'm too magically weak to do anything, if that vile power can even be stopped anymore."

"What will happen if the pillars of light fail?"

"Not if, when. If they're destroyed by the entity breaking free… the chaos would be incredible. It would warp the land, befoul nature itself. Maybe, if you purposed caused each pillar to collapse, you could confront the entity in a way that wouldn't cause too much damage."

"Then we could beat it?"

She looked directly at him, blue eyes alight with mirth, before she burst into laughter. "Defeat it? Good luck. Imprisoning it was an incredible feat, accomplished only while it was asleep and crippled. It would strike you off the face of the earth like a mite. It would require all the fury of the cosmos to even scratch it. Earthly arms simply aren't important enough, on a cosmic scale, to strike it down."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know making the thicc girl super hungry is kind of a bad look/obvious, but I'm more imagining her as supernaturally hungry- very strong, but burning through fuel like a furnace to keep at it.
> 
> We're in the endgame now, folks. I'm thinking a pillar and side event/girl each chapter. Pirates + a pillar, Martians + a pillar, maybe Old One's + a pillar? I was considering slipping a nymph in there, but you know. There's approximately 0 time between the last pillar and Moon Lord so... or maybe make a triple feature out of the events we haven't covered?
> 
> As always, tell me what you think!


	17. Shattered by the Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's chapter title is a lyric from a certain song, which I'm sure a few of you will get. Sorry if this one's a little shorter than usual folks.

Cyrus had decided, after some thought, to approach the glowing orange pillar first, although he didn't really have a specific reason for this. It just seemed like a good place to start.

Of course, there was also some prep work involved, because the great beacon seemed to be coming from the desert, and a trip there would be bad enough on its own without a fight waiting for him at the end. Making sure he had enough water and wouldn't keel over due to exhaustion was a major concern, and everyone seemed glad to help. The pillars had put everyone on edge and were always there, burning on the horizon even at night and everyone wanted them gone, or at least out of sight. Making an entire village's worth of blinds wasn't fun.

He had hoped to head out nice and early, get to the desert before the noon sun got too hot, but he really didn't notice anything was up until the sun didn't seem to rise properly. There was no brilliant smear of color to the east, painting the horizon warm colors, and when he finally saw hints of the sun, he could only see the edges, as the majority of the sun was covered by a black disk. The moon, maybe?

An eclipse might be a pretty good reason to sleep in, but Cyrus was curious if there would be anything… weird about it. The last time the celestial bodies got weird like this, it was that strange frost moon, when Nicola, Crista, and Picea joined their number, so Cyrus was honestly expecting the worst.

Titania was looking out the window, seemingly deep in contemplation. "Hey, Titania, what's up?"

She snapped out of her reverie and shot him a glare before responding. "There's something up with this, the eclipse and all. I'm stronger during the day, but there's something up with this. It doesn't feel right. Not enough oomph, you know?"

"I really don't."

"Of course you don't." She sighed. "I'm much stronger during the day. I promise you, if you fought my previous form during the day we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Because you would have splattered me across the countryside?"

"Well, that was implied."

* * *

The eclipse was really something novel. His body was telling him that it was day, that the sun should be shining brightly, but it simply wasn't. It would be even weirder if just happened all of a sudden in the middle of the day… It would downright terrifying, to see the sky darkening until it almost seemed like night.

He decided to take a walk outside, get the full experience while he could, give his new beetle armor a test run and all that. Of course, he brought his flail along, because of course he did. Going out unarmed was basically signing his own death warrant, and sure enough, once he got far enough from the village proper all number of nasty creatures starting showing up.

At first, it just seemed like the usually nightly affair, zombies and all that, but these ones seemed different. Towering undead figures with tall, cylindrical heads and bolts in their necks, along with zombies with no head at all, just a gigantic eyeball. They were also a little tougher than the usual enemy he faced, but that wasn't unusual.

However, the more enemies he fought off, the weirder they got… labcoated men with the heads of flies, strange creatures that seemed to have crawled from some deep recess of the world, shrieking figures that loped across the ground, crawling with terrific speed. Cyrus hammered away with his flail, sending the figures flying, but there always seemed to be more of them.

Sometimes Cyrus would take to the air, trying to avoid the rushing hordes of enemies, including strange figures with masks of all sorts- pig masks, hockey masks, strange things covered in nails- with all sorts of weapons. They would launch sprays of nails, lunge with chainsaws, or just try to rend him apart with their own hands.

Unfortunately, the sky wasn't empty either, and he ducked and dodged out of the way to avoid the spheres which flew through the sky, which sprouted razor sharp edges, and Cyrus didn't feel like testing how effective his new armor was like that. The spheres honestly weren't too bad, but they were hard to see in the strange twilight of the eclipse, and he did not want to get blindsided by one of those things.

After batting a sphere out of the sky, he felt something pressing against his armor, seemingly searching for a gap to exploit, and he instinctually swung with his flail- but hit nothing. He looked down to see a tiny little bat flitting around his arms, looking for some gap to sink its unusually sharp little teeth into.

He grabbed at the creature, hoping to crush it within his gloves, but before he could get a good grip on the thing, it began to grow, delicate wings turning into the thick fabric of a billowing cape, the tiny face warping until Cyrus was staring directly into a face that was almost human. The skin was too white, as white as chalk, and the eyes were a terrible shade of red, like blood freshly spilled, and the imperious expression seemed inhuman when stretched across that pallid face.

For a moment, they locked eyes, and Cyrus could see nothing but sheer condescension before the figure lunged, revealing razor sharp fangs that aimed straight for his throat. Cyrus avoided becoming the vampire's lunch, but it still slammed into him, sending them both spiraling through the air.

As he grappled with the figure, desperately trying to get enough distance to use his flail, only one thought came to his mind: throw some garlic at it. Of course, this wasn't very helpful, and eventually he managed to kick the vampire away before slamming his flail into the thing with enough force to shatter bone. Somehow, it got back up, but didn't recover when he knocked the thing's head clean off.

Cyrus was proactive enough to basically keep the air clear- he could smack just about anything out of the sky as long as he could see it coming, which could definitely be a big if sometimes. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see something massive blocking the halo of sunlight peaking out from behind the moon.

He turned and swung with his flail, striking the head of a truly monstrous moth, easily the size of a small building. It was hard to make out specifics in the faint light, but he could get faint impressions of massive wings and a great, heavy abdomen, along with a pair of truly massive eyes. Cyrus, being interested in playing fair, mercilessly struck at the head, trying to defeat the creature as quickly as possible.

It was a tremendously tough bug, which wasn't too surprising- Cyrus was wearing armor crafted to mimic a beetle, after all- but his flail seemed to be doing something, even if it wasn't much. He also tried to strike the wings, hoping that they would crumple under the force of his blows, but they were much tougher then they looked and snapped back like elastic whenever he managed to bend them out of shape.

Fortunately, the moth seemed to scare the small fry away, so no vampires or spheres interrupted their deadly dance. He managed to avoid most of the creature's attacks, but it was incredibly strong; eventually, it seemed to back off and Cyrus sagged in relief as he glided through the air.

Of course, Cyrus couldn't have good things, and the giant moth stopped to lay a clutch of massive eggs, which started swaying almost immediately, tiny little cracks appearing almost immediately. He made sure to keep an eye on them while fighting off the giant moth, and of course they eventually cracked open to reveal the creature's spawn, which were basically just smaller versions of their parent.

The baby bugs were just as aggressive as their parent, but fortunately they weren't quite as durable, and Cyrus managed to strike them down with a few good blows. Unfortunately, the deaths of the creature's offspring only sent it into a fury, and Cyrus had to try even harder to dodge now, swerving out of the way of the moth's tank-like body.

Eventually, Cyrus managed to strike the creature's head with enough force to kill it, and it dissolved into smoke- leaving a girl behind where its abdomen once was. Cyrus dove to catch her- he certainly couldn't imagine the girl surviving falling into the mob of monsters below- and managed to grab her.

Her most notable trait were the wings, a tremendous pair just like a moth's, although she also had a distinctive pair of antenna peaking through her hair. He couldn't really get any specifics of her looks, but he assumed she was similar to her previous form. He got the impression that she was female, of course, but the clothes he felt were surprisingly soft and fluffy. Strangely enough, she also seemed to be holding something vaguely circular in her hands, but he didn't have time to investigate.

Afterwards, Cyrus dropped the girl off back in the village and got back to the fight, batting away the same mooks as before, with an occasional surprise in the form of a strange, ghostly figure carrying a massive scythe. Cyrus was surprisingly used to killing ghosts and other supernatural creatures like that, although the massive scythe was a bit of change- especially when it turned out to be physical. When he killed the ghost, the scythe remained and instead fell to the ground, the blade sinking into the soft loam.

Cyrus really couldn't stop to eat due to, you know, everything going on, and unfortunately it seemed to be a day long event, considering how it lasted from dawn until… Noon, as it seemed to be now. The sun was still hidden behind the moon, making things a little strange, but you could still get a rough idea of time by tracking the moon's solar halo through the sky.

The enemies would occasionally drop little trinkets, like strange little purple bands and shells that gleamed gently in the faint light. Of course, he wasn't stopping to take a careful look at the various artifacts that littered the ground, considering how he was busy murdering anything that moved.

Cyrus supposed that the desert trip was out of the way for today, and even if he wanted to take a night trip (which would probably make the desert more tolerable) but he had a feeling that he would be too exhausted to travel to the desert. Even if he tried to pace himself he would still have to stop and roost, trying to take easy shots while catching his breath.

Of course, he also wondered what exactly caused this strange phenomena- well of course, his rough, ramshackle memories did provide enough information for him to know that eclipses were a thing that did happen from time to time, when the moon moved in front of the sun, but they were supposed to be short term things, lasting for a few minutes at most. No eclipse should last an entire day like this, and if wasn't some sort of strange illusion… then did some powerful cosmic force literally reroute the path of the entire moon?

This sort of navel gazing about the mysteries of this strange world didn't really yield any results though. Sure, Cyrus knew that things were… off in this world, but he didn't have any real concrete memories of what the old world was like. He was here, now, and there was nothing he could do to change that… or at least he thought so.

* * *

Sundown was a relief, and the great swarms of monsters finally seemed to come to a stop. Of course, things could never be easy, and the ground was littered with sharp nails and steel spheres covered in all sorts of nasty bits- razor spikes and edges. Acid bubbled gently in little puddles and the ground was covered in all sorts of foul substances, foul muck dredged up by the swarms of monsters.

Cleaning all this up was going to be a tremendous pain in the ass- he supposed you could sweep up all the nails and metal bits with some magnets or something… but what about the acid? Yikes. Whatever. Cyrus picked up the stuff that seemed interesting, like the accessories and the scythe, but he went back home pretty quickly- they had a new guest, after all.

Fortunately, someone (maybe Terra? She was strong.) moved the girl, presumably to the sickroom, and Cyrus headed in that general direction. As the sun set, he felt a strange sort of humming from the purple bracelet- he could see that there was a pattern etched into the strange purple stone, a delicate crescent moon. There was a strange sort of warmth coming from it, and he felt great- stronger, faster, even a little healthier- and he had several of them, considering all the vampires he batted- no pun intended- out of the sky. They might make good gifts?

In the sickroom, he saw the girl laying in the bed, her delicate wings splayed out to the sides as she breathed gently. He could see two items- presumably belonging to the girl- on the bedside table. A strange little yoyo, patterned like an eye with a vivid blue iris, and a short sword in a worn leather scabbard. Cyrus was curious, and he pulled the sword from its sheath- or rather, what was left of it. It was a short sword, made shorter by the damage to the thing's tip, and the rusted metal of the blade with dotted with greenish moss.

Cyrus wasn't sure what use the two items had, but maybe he should ask the girl about it- it was her stuff, and it probably wasn't a great idea to just fiddle with it. He considered taking a seat, and even pulled out a chair when his stomach gave an intense grumble. After double checking that the girl wasn't stirring from her rest, he headed off to get some dinner.

* * *

Everyone was understandably shook by today's weird occurrence, in the form of the day long solar eclipse and all the monsters that entailed. Cthylla was ranting about some of the monsters she had seen with her enhanced eyesight. "No really, I'm telling you! It was a guy wearing a labcoat, with a fly's head!"

Andi snorted. "Really? You sure a fly didn't land on those sunglasses of yours?"

"Of course I'm sure!"

Before Andi could reply, Cyrus spoke up. "They're real, and just as nasty as you'd expect. They threw around these nasty vials of acid… I'd recommend watching your step, there are little pools all over the place outside the village."

After a few moments of silence, their second newest guest, the cultist, spoke up. "Aberrations of the natural order like that are to be expected, considering how your actions have thrown the world out of balance."

Cyrus sighed. She was right, of course she was, but she had been all doom and gloom since she woke up. Admittedly, being all doom and gloom did make sense if you were completely convinced that no measures could possibly save you from destruction, but it didn't really raise the group's spirits. As Cyrus considered this, he suddenly realized that he didn't even know the woman's name.

"Wait a minute. Did anyone ever ask you for your name?"

The girl shrugged, sending rippling patterns down the reflective embroidery of her cloak. "Does it really matter?" Cyrus gave her a look, and after a second she sighed. "If you must know… My name is Asteria."

She refused to talk for the rest of meal, although Cyrus couldn't say he blamed the girl. Maybe if he managed to defeat this eldritch monster, her mood would get better? Cyrus could feel a bit of sympathy, honestly- having no memories led to a fair amount of navel-gazing and depression, and that just due to amnesia! Knowing full well that your best efforts had failed and the world was going to end… the poor girl was handling it surprisingly well, given context.

* * *

Eventually, Cyrus headed off to the desert the next evening, once he had assured himself that there wasn't some sort of wacky event going on. The wind had really picked up though, and fortunately enough it was blowing from behind him, driving him towards the desert with speed.

The closer he got the pillar, its light only grew more overwhelming, until the entire sky seemed to be tinged orange. Eventually, Cyrus saw something flying him at tremendous speed, a long, wormlike creature with gnashing orange fangs that glowed brightly. Cyrus quickly snapped his wings out and spiraled to the side as it shrieked past in a blur of orange and brown.

It turned on a dime too, and Cyrus had real trouble dodging the thing- he could see a brightly glowing ball on the thing's tail, and Cyrus struck out at it with his flail as the creature shrieked in agony. The thing was freakishly fast and didn't stop at all even as Cyrus attacked it, so Cyrus dove towards the ground in an attempt to shake it off.

As fast as he could dive, the creature was even faster, and he could hear it cutting through the air. It felt like it was mere inches behind his back when he turned his dive into a roll that kept him from getting smeared across the baked sands of the desert. The strange creature immediately stopped its pursuit once he touched the ground, and Cyrus felt relief for a fleeting moment.

He had a sinking feeling that there was more going on that just a scary flying worm- maybe it forced him to the ground so its friends could pick him off? He looked around and saw something else approaching him, a lancer on a great lizardlike mount. The rider let its gleaming spear dip, and Cyrus leapt to the side to avoid it.

The rider was roughly human looking, and seemed to be riding bareback, which give Cyrus an idea. He struck the creature with his flail, and managed to knock it straight off its mount before quickly finishing the creature off- although not quick enough to let him block the rider's mount before it jumped him with a terrible shriek.

Up close and personal, Cyrus could see that its skin was sort of rocky and burnt, except for the brilliant orange crystals that poked out from its body, making its tail into a weapon that could rival one of Cyrus' own. Its teeth were certainly terrible as well, and his flail wasn't the greatest weapon at such close range- it was literally right on top of him, gnashing teeth inches from his face.

He couldn't exactly kick the creature off, but he managed to roll to the side enough to grab the massive spear that the rider dropped- it was way too long to use normally, but he managed to lodge it between the creature's jaws so it wouldn't gnaw on his face. He managed to throw the creature off then, giving him just enough range to hit it with his flail.

These things were certainly nasty, and there seemed to be way more of them, along with others. Humanoid creatures that could roll into a ball and charge him, dismounted versions of the rider he fought previously, and strange swordsmen that fought with two blades that made the air shimmer with their heat. Cyrus got to work, fighting his way towards the glowing pillar of light.

Eventually, after batting away what felt like dozens of those mooks, he eventually reached the source of that brilliant orange light- a great pillar of a strange material he couldn't easily name, but it was undeniably alive. Strange veins, like lava, criss-crossed its sides, and strange orange tentacles sprouted from its tremendous body- it was easily the size of a building. At the top there was some sort of strange mouth like thing that glowed brilliantly, and every once in a while a creature would crawl out- or fly out in the case of the strange flying worm creatures.

Unfortunately Cyrus couldn't just start hammering away at the thing, since there was some sort of tremendous bubble surrounding it that made his attacks bounce off like they were nothing. However, things weren't hopeless- every time he killed one of the creatures, a tiny burst of light flew off and hit the barrier, making it shiver and flicker for a few moments. Killing enemy monsters was all he needed to do, and it just happened to be something he was very, very skilled at doing.

* * *

Eventually, after Cyrus had killed dozens of the things- he couldn't give exact numbers since he didn't realize that he needed to count at first, but that was what it felt like- the barrier finally collapsed with a tremendous shattering noise, leaving nothing between Cyrus and the pillar, which he attacked with a vengeance, ignoring the other monsters in his haste to finish the things off.

When he managed to kill the thing, it disintegrated into a great cloud of smoke- but even through that dense smoke, he could see points of light shining through, like stars, for a brief moment before he nearly doubled over, his mind going numb as the pillar collapsed in on itself, the strange energies it contained bursting forth like a flood.

He also spotted a human figure through the smoke, however faintly, and he rushed to catch her before she fell. Her most notable trait was her hair- it was the exact same shade of orange that composed the pillar she came from.

After the smoke had cleared, Cyrus saw that the gleaming points of light were still there, a constellation composed of dozens of brilliant orange points. Once he had secured his grip on the girl, he jumped up and began snatching the fragments out of the air. Avoiding the swarms of creatures was a bit of pain, but they weren't growing in numbers so it was manageable.

Once he had collected every last one of the fragments, he pulled out his mirror and teleported the two of them back home. He had a feeling that he could make something good out of them- or one of the others could, at least.

* * *

Back at home, Cyrus dropped their newest guest off in the hospital, where Abigail and the moth girl were waiting. Once he got inside, he was sure of it- the girl's hair was literally glowing, bathing the sickroom in a cozy orange light.

"That's certainly unusual." Abigail mused as she checked up on the girl. "And not just because of the hair. She isn't just asleep- I think it might be some sort of coma?"

Cyrus rushed to the bedside. "Will she be alright?"

Abigail snorted. "Rushing over and butting in certainly won't help her, Cyrus. However, considering the trend of all the girls being as healthy as horses once they woke up, it might take something special to wake her up."

"Something special?"

"Well this is just an idea… but maybe the twin you defeated first was in a similar state until you defeated the other one? Like a sort of package deal with the other three light sources?"

"Well I suppose we're discovering the rules as we go." Cyrus shrugged before he heard a faint groan from behind him, from the other lass in the sickroom.

She opened her eyes to reveal a brilliant pair of blue eyes- all blue, in fact, no whites or pupil at all- that admittedly creeped Cyrus out a little bit. She at up and looked around for a few seconds, taking in her surroundings before her eyes seemed to widen- at least he thought so. Not being able to figure out exactly what she was looking at did make things a little weird.

The girl rose to her feet and started walking almost immediately, before she even said a word, and she walked off… to clamp onto the orange haired girl like she was a lifeline.

After a few seconds, Cyrus sighed. "Is this like a moth thing? Fascination with lights? He grabbed onto the girl's shoulder and gave it a gentle shake.

She snapped out of her trance and turned to Cyrus, staring at him with those deep blue eyes. "Uhhh… who are you?"

"I'm Cyrus, the Nurse is Abigail, and we're not entirely sure about the girl you're hugging."

She looked down at the girl she was hugging for a second before eventually letting go. "Oh, I'm not sure what came over me. My name is Cera." She smiled, although Cyrus did have to admit that her eyes made the whole thing a little more disarming than charming. Maybe he would get used to it?

* * *

It turned out that Cera had the same self destructive tendencies as a moth when she started flying in the direction of one of the other pillars- thankfully, Cyrus managed to fly up and catch her before she got herself killed, but Cyrus couldn't really bring himself to be too angry- it was a part of her being, he supposed. It would be like blaming Aria for sunbathing or Crista for avoiding the heat.

Her wings were definitely something- he had trouble catching up with her, in all honesty. Fully extended, they almost looked like giant eyes- he never got how animals could fall for that sort of thing until he the wings flapped in just the right way to give the impression of a massive face staring at him.

Eventually, he managed to drag the girl to dinner, and everyone had already noticed the disappearance of one of the pillars.

"You did it, Cyrus! It was certainly a surprise to see the light just blink out like that." Annelia seemed enthusiastic, her tail wriggling in excitement. "Can we visit the blue one next? It's over the corruption, after all."

"You're welcome to come along, but I'm warning you that it can get pretty dangerous. The monsters really come in swarms, and you can't just rush in and out- you need to kill a lot of monsters to get the job done."

Asteria looked up from her meal, her eyes particularly stormy. "At the very least, you had enough sense to gather the fragments?"

"The little orange things? Yeah, I grabbed them." He pulled them out, and they glowed brilliantly in his hands, or rather just a little above them- they still ignored gravity.

Everyone was transfixed and Asteria was no exception. "May… may I have them? I think I make some workable weapons out of them."

Cyrus bunched them in his hands and passed them over. "Be my guest."

"It's all futile… but I suppose it's something to do." She took them, and the glow of the fragments cast strange patterns across her face and hair. It was something of a bad pun, but she looked magical.

* * *

Asteria then proceeded to lock herself up in her room while she worked, and Cyrus decided to wait a bit before he headed out to do more fighting- he didn't want to imagine what the other pillars might hold, what terrible creatures lurked there.

He decided that maybe he should pick up some sort of fun hobby, and when he asked Cera was more than happy to give him the yoyo that she had on her person when she first appeared. His first attempts at yo-ing were lackluster at best. So logically, he did what anyone would do when a hobby got difficult- pour money and resources into accessories that didn't fix the root problem.

Admittedly, some of the stuff Harold the merchant got for him did help- how he managed to get a book on techniques so quickly, Cyrus would never know. He also got a few other yoyo accessories from his contacts: a sort of glove that would apparently allow you to use several at once, and counterweights for performing all sorts of tricks. (Getting a second yoyo was a bit of an issue, but he asked Cera and she somehow generated another one, not that he was complaining)

Eventually, once he picked up the fundamentals of yoyoing he started going on walks with the thing- he would be better at yo-ing if he practiced while walking or running around, right? Eventually, his walks led him to a monster- a possessed suit of armor that was stumbling around before it began to shamble in his direction. Out of pure instinct, he lashed out with his yoyo, figuring that it might disorient it long enough for him to beat a retreat- only to be surprised when the yoyo tore straight through the armor, cutting deep.

He supposed that it was a pleasant surprise, that his hobby had martial applications and he just happened to get a really good yoyo, but he was honestly a little disappointed: for a few moments he finally had something special that wasn't just beating things up… until it turned out he could kill things with a children's toy now. It was exceedingly effective though, and he eventually decided to replace his flail with it, considering the thing's design. It would always be a little unnerving, beating people up with a fish head on a chain.

* * *

Asteria presented him with two weapons once she was done with her work, both of which glowed brilliantly orange. There was a massive lance which seemed to launch copies of itself- he'd go through the motions of throwing, have it hit the target, only to look at his hand and realize that there was still a spear there. The other weapon reminded him a little of his flail, a sword composed of many segments that made it more like a whip than a sword.

"Thank you, Asteria. They're wonderful."

She sighed. "I'm glad someone gets to appreciate my work before everything is over."

"Oh, ye of little faith."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually saw a solar eclipse once. Genuinely stunning. As fun as a hot vampire girl sounds, I'm worried about character bloat enough already, but I suppose if anyone's particularly inflicted with the vampire girl thirst and asks for it… I'll see what I can do.
> 
> As for Cera, it comes from Heterocera, an etymology term for moths.


	18. Another One Bites the Dust

Cyrus and Annelia eventually set out for the corruption and the unearthly blue light emanating from it- both to destroy the pillar and to look around. Admittedly, Cyrus had seen very little of that strange, blighted land (not that he particularly wanted to) and hadn't even visited since he killed the Wall of Flesh and things got really weird.

The first thing he noticed was that the corruption was much bigger than before, which was concerning. Of course, he understood that the crimson and corruption were spreading, but seeing the grass and trees slowly turning from verdant green to dark purple was proof. Was this something he could stop? He hoped so, considering just how foul these places were.

Once again he was struck by that powerful sense of wrongness, that whatever this corruption was, it was thoroughly unnatural. He stopped walking as he tried to calm his stomach- he swore it wasn't this bad before, but now he wanted to wretch. "Cyrus! Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I think. There's just something off about the corruption- do you feel it?"

Her head tilted. "Something… off? It feels alright to me. Just like home."

"I don't doubt it… but this place takes a bit of getting used to. Let's take it nice and slow- I can't imagine throwing up all over the pillar would be that effective."

* * *

Eventually, they got close enough that the sky seemed dyed the same blue color as the light- of course, the sky was normally blue, but there was something unusually vivid about it, a deep royal blue broken up by dozens of bright blue floating stars that gleamed in the air.

Cyrus nearly jumped when he saw another flying centipede-like creature, but fortunately it was a of a different breed compared to the flying train that the solar pillar created. It did eventually catch on to Cyrus and Annelida, and while it did approach them, it wove through the skies at a relatively slower pace.

He managed to defeat it with his yoyo, and while it was an effective weapon, it made him feel like a bit of a tool. Annelida's laughter didn't help. "Is that a… combat yoyo?"

"Yes, it is." Cyrus really couldn't blame her for snickering.

Of course, there were more than just one type of enemies- Cyrus knocked strange, tentacled creatures out of the sky as they summoned creatures which flew at them like bullets. Strange human figures with brilliantly glowing lights on their heads and chests fired off lasers which cut through the hard purple crags of the corruption. Creatures with gaping mouths clambered across the ground, disgusting little monsters springing from the malformed mouth; at the same time strange creatures, like gigantic amoebas, drifted through the sky.

Their pace was a bit more relaxed, as Cyrus knew full well that it took a lot of time to kill enough enemies for the barrier to collapse in on itself. All the while there were the more mundane dangers of the corruption- great chasms and massive bushes of spiraling thorns.

Despite this, Cyrus and Annelida talked idly as they navigated the strange purple landscapes under the dark blue skies- there was enough light to see by, but he couldn't see the sun- only the moon, which suddenly seemed a lot bigger than before. When did it get that close?

"So… do you think you're ready for whatever's coming, Cyrus?"

"Who knows? I've survived before, haven't I?"

She glared at him, the eyes along her wavy tail narrowing. "You're alive, sure, but you've had a lot of close calls."

"Yeah, but it's gotta stop at some point, right?"

"I'm worried it will stop when you get killed!" As if to prove her point, one of the strange blue creatures, the bipedal type, fired off a laser that cut into a chink in his armor, causing Cyrus to hiss in pain. With one fluid move Cyrus avenged his injury, striking the offending creature with a yoyo directly to the face, while two counterweights crushed into its ribcage (or whatever passed for a ribcage in these things).

"Are you alright?" Annelida rushed to his side, holding onto his arm although the impact was decreased a little since her comforting embrace meant she was pressing up against stiff, chitinous armor. Still, he appreciated the sentiment, especially considering the general creepiness of the Corruption and the deep sense of unease it seemed to instill in him. He supposed Annelida would make living in the Corruption a little better.

"I think so… little attacks get through the chinks all the time." Cyrus shrugged.

"That's not the sort of thing you should be nonchalant about!"

* * *

Even from a distance they could hear a tremendous shattering noise as the barrier separating the pillar from the mundane world caved in on itself, leaving its occupant open for attack, although certainly not defenseless

This pillar was similar anatomically to orange counterpart, although it glowed with a strange blue light instead of a vivid, solar orange. The blue stars that filled the area poured from the pillar's top in an uncontrolled torrent, and they would occasionally be drawn together into the shapes of monsters.

It was getting hard to breath now, the air so thick with gleaming blue stars it was almost impossible to inhale without a few sneaking down your windpipe. Despite their beautiful appearance, they felt more like grit in his mouth than stars- and he definitely didn't want to find out what would happen if enough of the stuff collected in his lungs to spawn one of the creatures.

Annelida had a sort of aetheral look around her, covered in gently glowing stardust, but despite how appealing she looked in the royal blue light, he knew that something was up here. The pillar was just as unnatural as the corruption it stood in, and if Cyrus had learned anything it was that appearances were deceiving more often than not.

It was strange and alien- as if it had simply fallen from the sky and struck earth, bringing things that mankind wasn't meant to know from far beyond the stars. Actually, that may have been what happened- who knows how weird magical pillars moved around? They probably didn't get up and walk.

His yoyo proved just as effective as it always did, cutting great gouges into the strange, alien flesh of the pillar, which let out a strange, warbling cry that was painful to listen to. He took care to strike down the swarms of enemies which it spawned- it did lengthen the fight, but since he was with Annelida he couldn't just hop around through the air and leave her on the ground.

When he struck the blue pillar down, he caught a glimpse of the strange blue lights hanging in the air and another girl, whose hair was a brightly glowing blue. He just managed to catch her before his knees buckled under him, his body wracked with shooting pain that felt as hot as the stars. Through the pain he could feel acrid bile climbing up his throat, but before he could throw up in his helmet he managed to grab Annelida and the mirror before teleporting away.

* * *

Cyrus managed to wrestle his helmet off of his head before he started throwing up in an extremely messy fashion- he was in too much pain to find somewhere more appropriate to lose his lunch. Fortunately, Annelida managed to disentangle herself and their newest guest from Cyrus before he made a mess of them too.

Slowly, he stopped vomiting and Annelida gently took his head onto her lap as the pain slowly ebbed, until it was just a dull ache. Vaguely, he realized that she was tidying up his hair, and after some amount of time (he wasn't really in a state to tell) he looked up at her. "Thanks, but what about the blue haired girl?"

Annelida scoffed. "You collapse to the ground and start vomiting and your first concern is someone else. Of course. Terra picked her up and brought her to the sick room- which you might need to expand if we're getting two more of 'em."

Cyrus sat up and stretched. He felt drained, and not just in a physical way; it almost reminded him of the mind numbing effects of the previous pillar's destruction. As silly as it sounded, his brain ached- if this was what destroying the pillars did to him, he should probably start spacing it out more.

"Let me guess- in spite of the obvious dangers, you're going to go out and kill the others?"

He grinned even if he really didn't feel like it deep down. "Might take a longer break this time and get a check-up with Abigail… but I've got to get the job done."

"You're insufferable."

"You know you love me."

Annelida flushed before murmuring something he couldn't quite catch, although he got the general gist of it from her burning cheeks. She huffed, "Well, let's get you to Abigail then- you've been sitting out here for ages!"

* * *

He received a clean bill of health, although he certainly didn't feel like it. Surprisingly, Abigail held back from any jokes at his expense, but it was possible she pitied him- even if he was supposed to be perfectly healthy, he was pale and shaking like a leaf.

Afterwards, they headed down in the direction of the kitchen in order to make up for whatever he vomited out on the grass. There was a delightful, savory smell in the halls which came from the kitchen, and Cyrus followed as quickly as he dared. Maybe there was nothing wrong with him, but it certainly didn't feel like it after collapsing the pillar. The gleaming stardust felt strange in his pockets- completely weightless, but oddly resistant to movement. He would have to drop it off with Asteria later- she would make something useful out of it, he was sure.

If Asteria's weird stellar magic thing was her talent, than Bea and to a lesser extent Terra had cooking in addition to the latter's blacksmithing abilities. He wasn't really the domestic type, but maybe he could give it another shot once they were just a little safer. Cooking was a more… constructive pursuit? Fighting was all well and good, but there was something a little more satisfying about building things up- bricklaying certainly didn't get the adrenaline pumping, but it didn't get you killed.

"What's cooking?" Cyrus couldn't tell, but he was sure it would be good; after Bea arrived, he had never eaten a lackluster meal- at least one that she had prepared. Occasionally Cyrus would bring a bit of food just to fill him up when exploring, but it never tasted as good as home cooking, which was not a big surprise.

"Oh, just a bit of game from the forests- I wanted to do something with seafood, but Andi told me that it wasn't a good time to stop by the beach."

"Why?"

"Some cryptic warning about what sort of things the pillar might attract- you could probably see them for miles out offshore."

Cyrus felt his eye twitching- that had to be an event flag, and of course that meant the next time he headed down to the beach there would be trouble. He sighed. "Guess I'll check it out in a few days- don't want some big sea monster rolling up."

Terra got a funny look in her eyes. "Say… if you do find a big sea monster, could you haul it back here? Like a big kraken or something- imagine all the calimari!"

"I'm not sure if we have the facilities to cook an entire sea monster."

"Then we can just ask Cyrus to build a bigger kitchen!"

"I think he has better things to do." Short term, that was probably true, but Cyrus hoped that he could build more impressive structures once everything was a bit more peaceful- he was thinking of a big castle or something. The village was nice, but some part of him wanted a big palatial structure to overlook the land- if everybody got of this alright, the world was their oyster, so to speak.

* * *

Dinner was a stew of some kind, and Cyrus inhaled it nearly as quickly as Terra did; thankfully there was enough for everyone to have second portions. After nearly burning his throat, Cyrus looked over to Asteria- she was a ways down the table. "Hey Asteria, I've got some more of those fragment things for you."

He pulled them out of his pocket, letting them go so they drifted above his hands like miniature constellations. Their glow was also noticeable, vivid blue light reflecting off of everyone's faces in a way that didn't feel natural- something about it made familiar faces look alien.

Asteria caught them in her hands, clumping them together until only hints of blue light could be seen between her fingers. "Interesting. I'll see what I can do with it." She left the table without further ado, clearly uninterested in any more food- her hunger was for knowledge, apparently.

After a couple of moments of silence, Terra spoke up. "If I may ask… what happened when you defeated the pillar, Cyrus? You certainly didn't look alright."

Cyrus flushed a little under the worried looks the girls were sending his way, but after a bit of delay he answered. "Defeating the pillar did… something. The first one had this strange mind-numbing effect, and this one was horribly painful."

"Are you alright?" Cthylla was looking at him with renewed interest- well more interest than usual- scanning his body for wounds that weren't there.

"I certainly don't want to be experiencing it again anytime soon, but Abigail says I'm healthy even if I didn't feel like it."

Terra grinned. "I'm certain the lap pillow made you feel better."

Cyrus and Annelida flushed as quite a few pairs of eyes turned towards them.

* * *

That night, Cyrus dreamt of choppy seas and towering waves, a panicked crew navigating by the light of a pair of beacons burning brilliantly in the distance, pale green and vivid pink…

He woke up a little late the morning afterwards, but he felt justified in lazing around a little- he definitely wanted to be well rested for the next pillar. He certainly hoped it wasn't as painful as the second pillar- he never thought he would have preferred the mind numbing effects of the first, but it was better than the screaming pains he had suffered yesterday.

After a relatively quiet breakfast, Cyrus was left with the question of what to do with his day- he certainly didn't feel like charging out to the next pillar. Some rest and relaxation would be nice, the question was where; he had the luxury of several options now.

Some part of him was curious about the ocean- maybe it was the naval dream he had, but some part of him desperately wanted to go for a beach trip, even knowing full well that a possible threat was sailing close. Some part of him wondered if this was just his fighting urge. Did he really want to go to the beach because it was relaxing, or did he want to because it meant he could pick a fight? Was that all he was good for?

Cyrus shook his head and decided to start packing. He grabbed his fishing rod, hoping to catch something that wouldn't try to maul him, but he made sure to pack his yoyo as well. While he was considering potential company for his trip, he bumped into one his potential candidates.

"Hiya, Cyrus." Aqua gave him a saccharine smile, showing off her notable canines, along with her fin-like wings, that she wasn't fully human. "What are you up to?"

"I was preparing for a trip to the beach, if you'd like to come along-" she bolted off before he could finish his sentence, and he couldn't help but grin. It was nice to see someone so excited when he was worried about the pillars- surely they could hold up along enough for him to take a few beach trips, right? And if worse to came to worst… A long idle day on the beach would be a good way to cap everything off, so to speak.

He decided to spend a bit longer searching for potential guests, even if he didn't plan on dragging everyone out for a beach day. The first person he bumped into while wandering around was Titania, who seemed laser focused on cleaning her wings- she was craning with a mirror, trying to find any blemishes, imperfections, or stains on those pristine wings.

"You know, a friend really helps with this sort of thing." Cyrus knew from experience- it was so much easier to get someone else to tidy up your wings- by their very nature they were incredibly inconvenient.

"Not everyone has harem girls like you do, Cyrus."

Normally, bringing up the h-word would have sent Cyrus into a defensive rant, but he decided to continue the argument. "Most people have these things called friends- and they'll do favors for you, no romantic connections required."

"I can do it alone."

"Yeah, but not as well as somebody else could do it for you. How do you think Roxanne makes a living? We could all try styling our own hair, but…"

Titania snorted in a rather indelicate fashion. "I can't imagine what things were like before she arrived- did you cut your hair with a shortsword?"

Cyrus flushed for a moment and Titania burst out laughing. "You're kidding! You're telling me you got girls to fall for you while hacking off your hair with a sword?"

"And you think I can't attract women with my roguish charms?" Titania let out another peal of laughter- why did such an irritating woman have such a nice laugh?- and Cyrus decided to change the subject and salvage his ego. "Anyways, do you want to come to the beach?"

"Why? If you just want to perv on me-"

"Do you even have a swimsuit? You showed up after our big beach trip. It's a nice change of pace, that's all."

She stared at him for a moment before letting out a long sigh. "… why not? I must admit that that I've never seen the ocean before- the Hallow doesn't touch it, you see."

Cyrus grinned. "See? You'll love it."

"Any more comments like that and I won't go at all."

* * *

The beach was warm and balmy, and even through his armor Cyrus could smell the brisk salt air. He wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to do just yet- he would like to take a swim without being pursued by a deadly fish monster.

Speaking of Aqua, had practically sprinted down to the water and dove in before the sea froth could even touch his boots. Titania seemed happy to sit back on a towel- maybe she was sunbathing? Cyrus wasn't sure what good that would do her- she literally glowed in darker rooms. She had somehow acquired a shorter cut skirt, although Cyrus knew that staring would provoke a potential laser assault.

Cyrus looked out to the ocean, trying to see if conditions would be good for fishing- of course, he wasn't an expert with this sort of thing, but things seemed pretty good- until his staining eyes caught something above the horizon- sails.

"Aqua! Hey Aqua!" he shouted over the waves, and after a few moments she swam over, gracefully rising from the water directly in front of him. She swam strangely, using her fin-like wings to boost her speed (with velocity that put Cyrus' fastest swimming to shame) and adjust her course.

"Could you… check out that thing over there?" he pointed in the direction of the sails on the horizon. "Just… be careful please."

"Alrighty then." She smiled and dove back into the sea, diving deep beneath the surface. Suddenly, Cyrus wondered if she was capable of breathing underwater somehow- did she have hidden gills, maybe? She knew her own health better than he did, so he decided to trust her- he couldn't do breathing down her neck.

Aqua cut through the water, staying deep beneath the surface until she occasionally had to come up for breath. When she got closer, she recognize that it was a ship of some kind, and its great square sails were visible from quite a way away. She grinned before deciding to ham things up a little; afterwards she started circling the old fashioned boat in a rather shark-like fashion, even raising up her fin to spook them a little.

* * *

The pirates were practically sagging with relief, with land in sight. Sure, they had been guided ashore by those strange beacons, which were probably a very bad sign, but the land looked rich and fertile- even if they had to push people off of it.

Through a spyglass, they caught the hints of structures on land: just a few small shacks set up the shore, but it meant that they couldn't just sit down and settle here. That was their plan, actually- as profitable as piracy might be, the high seas were dangerous and full of vicious creatures. They had heard rumors of that terrible ruler of the seas, the Fishron, but they hadn't seen hide or hair of it recently (fin or scale?) despite this general region being its home range.

A few of them were hopeful that it had wandered off or maybe even been defeated, but they all froze when they heard shouting from their lookout. "Fishron, Fishron!" They all snapped to attention, and they could see hints of a strange aquamarine fin looping around their ship.

Admittedly, it could have been just about anything, but they had heard rumors of the monster, of aquamarine skin and ivory fangs. Sure, the fin was pretty small, but they panicked anyways- you didn't sail the seas without knowing about the Fishron.

They scrambled to pull out muskets, crossbows, and even blunderbusses which they desperately pointed off the sides of the ship- the fin stuck so close to the ship that they couldn't point the cannons down enough to shoot at it.

The fin's owner almost seemed playful, flitting around the ship and happily diving under and around the boat, and after one last dive the fin just… disappeared, even if the fear it instilled remained. What the hell was that?

* * *

Back on shore, Cyrus saw that the ship was still slowly approaching, and after a few moments Aqua smoothly rose from the water. "It's a pirate ship."

"Like an honest to goodness pirate ship with cannons and stuff?"

"Yep! They've even got a big ol' skull and crossbones." She gave him a worrying grin. "I think I spooked them a little with my fins."

"Did you try to scare them on purpose?" Aqua was suddenly fascinated by the intricate workings of his breastplate- it was better than looking him the eyes, after all.

"Uhh… maybe. They were shooting at me!" Cyrus started a little at that, but she seemed completely healthy- not a scratch on her or her wings, which were massive targets.

"Did they started shooting after you scared them?"

Aqua answered with a very quiet voice. "No."

"Well, maybe they're not so bad- but I'm glad you checked anyways." Cyrus felt a little bold, so he decided to go for the head-pat and judging by Aqua's wide grin, she appreciated it.

Cyrus was curious- sure, they were definitely pirates, but would they be interested in talking, maybe? Who was he to judge a person for coming from a potentially messy background? Hadn't he invited people that had done him a lot of harm (admittedly while they were in a monstrous form) only for them to prove helpful additions to his team?

Before he could start considering how much housing was needed to host the entire crew of a pirate ship, something smacked into the sand next to him with tremendous force, sending up a plume of sand. Immediately, Cyrus knew- that was a cannon ball. He probably could have tanked it, given his armor, but still. He sighed, "I suppose it's going to be like that then."

His icy wings unfurled from his back and he lept into the air, ready for another fight- he was certain he could move a bit faster than a slow moving ship and its cannon. Despite that, his stomach was churning itself into knots. He had killed all sorts of monsters, even ones with remarkable amounts of intelligence, but could he really go and kill a bunch of humans, even if they meant him ill will?

* * *

The pirates noticed something was off when a little speck on the beach leapt into the air- was it a person? It got closer, growing until they could see that it was a figure in bulky purple armor with a pair of beautiful, icy wings on their back. Bit of strange pairing, they supposed, but pirate's clothes weren't exactly high fashion either.

Whoever the figure was, they clearly didn't take a near miss with a cannonball well- the crew fired at the person in the beetle suit armor who swerved and spun out of the way with incredible agility for their armor's bulk. Their bullets and arrows bounced off the thick outer shell, although occasionally a lucky shot would send gleaming fragments of ice into the air.

They flying figure seemed hesitant to attack despite the fusillade of attacks coming their way; at least until they sent another cannonball down to the beach, which threw yet more grit and sand into the air. This finally inflamed the flying figure's temper and they suddenly spun in air, diving towards the deck and beginning his attack with a vicious kick to the captain's side, which sent both of them stumbling as the entirety of the crew turned their weapons towards the stern.

Before they could fire, the figured pulled out a long, glowing sword that burned bright like the sun, and with one vicious slash, a majority of the crew was rent in two along with the ship's mast, which fell to the deck with a crash. The weapon was so hot it started fires, and the figure followed it up with a yoyo, which was funny until it started tearing through the boards of the deck like a saw.

Perhaps… this wasn't the greatest of ideas.

* * *

Cyrus had fought humanoid enemies before- goblins, skeletons, even those strange creatures borne from the pillars- but there was something different about actual humans, even if they were bloodthirsty pirates. He was pretty sure that the second cannon shot had missed anything important on shore… but he wouldn't have them touching any of the villagers.

Even if he was feeling a little nauseous, he was going to take a look around the ship- it wasn't very often that you got strange visitors from overseas, right? Idly, Cyrus wondered if he could build a ship like this one- before he nearly lost his footing on the slick, sea-sprayed deck as the ship shifted in the water.

Did he accidentally punch a hole in the hull or something? He decided to jump ship before it capsized, and got back into the air to take one last look at that strange, towering ship. The most notable thing about it was probably the figurehead on the ship's front- he supposed that it made sense for pirates to play into the whole skull and crossbones thing.

Cyrus idly wondered how everyone would react if he just… borrowed the skull and crossbones when the empty eye sockets were suddenly filled with a strange red light. Goddamnit, what was with this place and creepy skulls?

Did he like, accidentally curse the ship by killing its crew? That seemed possible… like there were all sorts of weird monsters and spirits wandering around in the dungeon, which was probably so haunted it wasn't funny. The ship definitely seemed to be haunted, with the ropes and rigging moving on their own, as if moved around by ghostly hands.

Then it started to float like a ghost, threshing oars cutting through the air as the ship oriented itself so its great wooden side pointed at Cyrus, meaning that an entire side of cannons was pointing directly at him. Uh oh.

He went into a dive as the ship's side lit up with billowing smoke, and Cyrus could feel the wind rushing by from the incredible speed of the cannon balls. Pulling out his yoyo, he began to tear away at the ship's bottom, careful to avoid the oars which tried to smack him out of the air.

Splinters were flying through the air now, and Cyrus was glad that the armor covered him completely from head to toe- he did not want to imagine picking out all gross splinters. He did not want to imagine where that ship had been, or what sort of funkiness would happen with haunted splinters.

Once he had gotten to the ship's other side, he swung out with his yoyo again, knocking the cannons out of position. Before whatever ghostly forces that managed the ship could aim them properly, he managed to wrap his yoyo's string around one of the cannons- and then he just folded up his wings and dropped, pulling on the chord with all of his significant strength.

For a moment the ship listed, leaning over as Cyrus pulled, until part of the hull shattered with the splintering wood, letting most of the cannons on one side fall out as Cyrus dodged out of the way. Woops.

Cyrus continued to circle the ship, using his yoyo to tear away at its planks while avoiding its cannon- fortunately, it seemed completely focused on him and not on the shoreline. It wasn't too hard to dodge the cannons, but it seemed like they fired at incredible speed for muzzeloading cannons. He imagined that if he touched the cannons with his bare hand, they'd be burning hot.

The air around the ship was filled with smoke and the smell of spent powder… along with less pleasant smells, but Cyrus stayed close, to evade the cannon, until eventually his intense yo-ing finally did the ship in, and it lost whatever structural integrity it had left. Unfortunately, Cyrus was directly under the ship at the time, meaning he had to avoid a rain of loose wood and- was that a girl?

Cyrus groaned and dove through the hail of splinters and nails, eventually coming out of the other side with yet another girl in his arms. If Cyrus had to use a single word to describe her, he'd say pirate: while she didn't have a peg leg, she had a very distinctive eyepatch, along with one of those shirts pirates wore… Lacrima would probably know the specific term, but it had a bunch of ruffles. She had a long mane of red hair that was in a messy ponytail over her shoulder.

Like most of the girls, she was unusually pretty, but Cyrus had gotten kind of used to that by now, so he got her back to shore with no issues. At least, that was Cyrus thought until he saw Titania, who was holding her head in frustration. "I swear, is it something about this particular beach?"

Cyrus shrugged. "Who knows. I mean, I'm finding random girls everywhere."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get back home." She stopped talking to dust a bit of sand off herself. "One of those cannonballs covered me in sand."

Cyrus' eyes widened. "Are you alright? They didn't hit you, right?"

"What do you think, Cyrus?" She rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself."

"Well, I'm glad you're alright, Titania."

"Let's get back to the teleporter before we get too sappy, yeah?"

* * *

After dropping off the pirate girl in the sickroom, Cyrus sat down for dinner with everyone, and Cyrus was reminded that as much as he liked everyone at this table, dinner could still be a little… wild.

"Come on Cyrus, say ahh~" Annelida had gotten even more clingy than before now, and he couldn't fully blame her considering how he nearly passed out from pain yesterday. Cyrus didn't mind getting doted on in theory, but it felt a little… suffocating at times.

Especially considering the fact that Visca was pressing close to him on the other side- it was a little weird, considering the fact that Visca was composed of slime instead of normal flesh and bone. Thankfully, she didn't ruin clothes or anything, but it certainly made hugs… different.

Aqua was regaling everyone with a play-by-play retelling of the strange pirate ship; he didn't remember being quite that heroic, but he didn't particularly feel like stepping in to stop her. Everyone knew that she was fond of exaggeration- you just had to filter out the hyperbole.

As appetizing as dinner seemed (and as enthusiastic as Annelida was in trying to feed him) Cyrus didn't really feel very hungry. Something about fighting off those pirates felt different- they were human, even if they wanted him dead.

He could feel Cthylla staring intensely at him- if anyone could tell that he was a little shaken up, she could, and once he had excused himself from the table (and disentangled himself from Annelida's vicelike grip and tail) Cthylla followed him.

* * *

Cyrus found himself sitting with Cthylla under the stars, and they started to talk as the two great pillars continued to burn brightly in the sky, two great lines splitting the sky into halves.

"What's the matter, Cyrus? You seemed a little… upset." Cthylla reached out and took his hand.

"It's just… those pirates. They were human, you know. Just like you or me."

"Well, I'm not quite sure if I'm fully human," Cthylla scratched her cheek nervously, "but I think I get what you mean. Surely, if they meant you harm you were justified, right?"

"They did shoot at us, sure, but… what if they were running from something? Who knows what sort of other things are going on?"

"Would you have fought with them if they didn't try to kill you?"

"Well, I'm just wondering if they would have talked in other circumstances. It's just… the moment I thought about them attacking the village, attacking everyone… I lost it."

"I don't think anyone is going to complain about you saving their lives, Cyrus."

"You say that, but it doesn't make me feel much better."

"That's okay- but maybe we can spend a bit of time together tomorrow? Get your mind off things?"

* * *

"Sure, why not?"

Cyrus had horrible nightmares that night, imagining what it must have been like on that ship, being attacked by someone completely above their level. A winged figure in thick beetle armor, less a man and more a force of nature, dealing in fire and blood.

Eventually, those dreams shifted, until his mind was filled with visions of what might have happened if he hadn't been there- rapine and slaughter, all of it against people he cared about. Needless to say, he woke up covered in sweat.

After a bit of wandering around early in the morning, he found Cthylla, who gave him a brilliant grin. "Oh Cyrus, you're up! Come on, let's get going!"

"Well, it's a little early, isn't it-"

"I've got everything handled, don't you worry. Just relax."

"Are you just trying to rush out before our date gets interrupted?"

"No, not at all…"

Cthylla guided (read: dragged) him to one of their teleporters, and with a flash of brilliant yellow light they were… somewhere else. Cyrus was still a little disoriented, but he soon recognized as the teleporter room for the hot springs.

"Uh, is this…"

"The hot springs, yep. We should get more use out of them, especially if…" her voice eventually petered out, but she still took him by the hand and led him to the hotspring. Who was he to refuse?

* * *

Good grief, the hot spring felt like magic (and Cyrus had seen actual magic)- all of his stress and aches seemed to dissolve into the warmth of the spring, even if it did lead to a new issue- or rather a couple of new issues.

"Cyrus, are you actually going to look at me?

"Well, I can't…" He was treading in dangerous territory now, and had barely managed to get inside the hot spring without things getting… awkward.

"Yes you can. Just turn your head to the left."

"Well, it's the principle of the thing."

"I'd like to remind you that I am your girlfriend- one of your girlfriends, actually."

"Well…."

"Well, well, well! Any more wells and I'd be fetching pails of water. I mean, if you're genuinely not interested…"

"It's not that… it's just… I've never…"

"You're kidding- you've got several girlfriends at the same time and you haven't seen a pair of-"

Before Cthylla could finish that sentence, both of them froze when they heard the characteristic sound of a teleporter activating, meaning they now had company.

"CYRUS!"

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very grateful to everyone reading this, as usual. If you want a fun fact about my writing process, all of my docs for this fic are named "haremtrash#", and this one is haremtrash18. I'd like to think I'm self aware. Playing very heavily into harem tropes (at least ones I like- all my homies hate overly violent tsunderes) was something I wanted to do from the very beginning here. The bit at the end… I'm not sure if I could single out a single source, but it had a very harem anime feel as I wrote it.
> 
> One of the working titles for this was Stardust of Yesterday, until I realized the more obvious music reference.
> 
> The pirate invasion is kind of high-key horrifying isn't it? I mean you're killing actual people even if they're trying to kill you.
> 
> As for how I plan on ending this- there will probably be several chapters post-Moon Lord, both to hook more girls up with Cyrus (genuinely not sure how long doing them all would take, and it would probably feel very... checklisty?) and to add a few others. The nymph is a classic ofc, but maybe some of the other events I haven't covered. Plus maybe a hot vampire. Plus, I still need to jam maid uniforms in there somewhere.
> 
> As for mods- probably not. Something like calamity would require tons of retconning plus me just not knowing much about the lore. I might come back to it, eons from now, but if anyone wants to give it a shot by themselves- I'll be rooting for you.


End file.
